When We Meet Again
by GoldenPadfoot148
Summary: When fate makes its match, there is little to be done to prevent it. Leaving home might be a shot of escaping, but it's what you're leaving behind that will ultimately change the outcome.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Second attempt at a Fanfic- hated my first but I am still working on it off site- this time a Jarah! Hope it grabs the imagination :3 We all know the balls are crystal, not glass, but Toby has the limelight in this chapter.

* * *

The clock's ticking was the only sound that penetrated the utter silence of the house, echoing up from it's place on the wall in the hall downstairs. Outside, the trees that lined their home rustled quietly in the wind, thrown into relief by the moonlight overhead and a solitary lamppost across the road. Not a car was to be seen. Inside, everyone was asleep. Or at least at first glance, that was how it looked.  
If one drew closer to the door beside the stairs however and pressed their ear against it they would have heard the faint clicking noise and huffs of frustration coming from within. A 12 year old Toby was very much awake and playing his gameboy in his shorts with a look of constip- of intense concentration on his face, playing by the little light of the streetlamp outside that broke through the gap in the curtains he'd made. A moment passed and he swore colourfully under his breath before throwing the console at the pile of laundry in the corner and then himself onto his back dramatically, stirring up the musty and cloying smell of unwashed boy from his bed sheets. He had lost, again. Sarah could beat the levels so easily when she came over to see him but he could barely make it through the first 6 before he got stuck. It was so annoying. She made everything look easy. And never gave up.  
He rolled over and shut his eyes with another huff, letting out a small belch as he did so. Without realising it, he was carried off into the realm of dreams mere minutes later and peace once more swept through the house hold.  
Across the darkened landing a door sat ajar, showing a sliver of shelves holding an old music box, a blond figurine, an ornamental peach. A layer of dust had settled over everything inside the room since it had lost it's occupant a few years prior despite Karen's attempt to keep it at bay with her cleaning. Sarah hadn't taken all of her things with her when she'd moved out and had even told Karen to give the stuff on the shelves away to Charity, but the woman couldn't bring herself to do so. They spoke of the teenage girl so enraptured by fantasy and fiction that she had actually believed for some time that the story in her little red book was real. The girl who was on the brink of growing into the respectful young woman she had come to understand and love in recent years. Not to mention Toby flat out refused to let anything in her room be moved past cleaning lest 'someone' get upset. It had been such a relief when Sarah had finally let go of all the... the silliness clouding her teenage mind and had grown up and left for University.

Behind a dust cover at the back of the room, a golden framed mirror sat atop a vanity table. And while no eyes were awake to see it, it began to glow.

* * *

The room was hazy, the edges blurring and jumping away from him as he tried to focus on them in a means to see where he was. The room was lit by a soft, warm glow but he couldn't pinpoint the source of the light or which direction it was coming from no matter what he tried; spinning around quickly only served to further disorientate him. Toby's heart began to pick up it's pace as he swallowed thickly, his mind clouded in confusion. This wasn't his room. This wasn't even in his house. Nothing stayed still when his eyes tried to look at it so the room was constantly moving around him like he was on a fast-spinning carousel, and he could see no way to get off.

That was a strange thought. He could see flickers of gold and colour just like that but no sooner had he seen them than they danced away again to toy in his peripheral vision. A clock was ticking somewhere around him, sounding so _loud_ and _erratic_ that he pressed his hands over his ears to block it out. Muffled laughter and squealing giggles entered his head without using his ears seemingly in spite of this making his shit his eyes. Through his fingers the ticking was getting louder, now laced with the chiming of a far off bell. Behind his eyelids he saw... _bubbles?_ Flitting about as if on a breeze. They held pictures in them of impossible things and places, laughter ringing from some and sobbing from others as they passed by.  
Toby's eyes flew open and he staggered forward in an effort to get away... but the ground seemed to have disappeared when he'd reopened his eyes... _he was falling..._

He hit sand coloured flagstones and fell forward onto his hands and knees. Sweat was running off him in rivulets and into his eyes even as it ran down his back. Nausea churned his stomach and he clamped a hand over it to stop himself being sick as he slowly raised his eyes to take in his new surroundings.  
A cold breeze blew in from his left and ran its chilly fingers through his hair and over his face as he tried to stand up, but his knees gave out. It was then that he realised he was shaking... and that he was being watched.

There is no explanation that can exactly capture the feeling of someone's eyes intently focused on you. The naked feeling that pins you to the spot so that all thoughts of fleeing... flee. And you know you can't hide from it. The figure finally pushed off from the tree and sauntered slowly out of its shadow in which he had been hiding. A setting sun's rays threw colour to him and Toby took in the white blond hair that sat so regally yet jauntily around the stranger's face, framing his sharp features and pulling attention to the dark, mismatched eyes that watched him. The man was not smiling. His mouth was set into a tight line which hid his lips. His walk was careful yet full of danger, his hands clasped behind his back almost nonchalantly though knuckles were pressed taught against the leather of his gloves. His black boots kicked up dust from the dirt track they were on causing Toby to finally break eye contact shield his eyes from the oncoming grit.

Then, through the rapidly clearing fog of his mind, the boy finally noticed that the cacophony of noise had ceased. And as he opened his eyes again, he realised the figure had stopped as well. Slowly dragging his eyes forward again with every nerve screaming at him, he immediately focused on the feet now standing barely a foot away from his face. There was a stick of sorts poking out of the top of one of his boots. _'They have a heel on them... why is he wearing ladies boots?'_ He thought idly even as his eyes wandered north... then they froze on the amulet around the man's neck. _'I've seen that before. Where have I seen that? How do I know that thing?!'_

The stranger moved his foot slightly and cleared his throat, the sound snapping him sharply from his thoughts. When Toby's eyes rose again they met with a guarded expression mingled with a flicker of disbelief marring the man's features... and... pain? Even as he blinked and looked back it was gone, replaced with an unyielding, cold mask. He swallowed thickly. The blond sighed force-calmly through his nose, his eyes clenching shut for a moment as a gloved hand detached from the other and came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. The previous confusion come back to Toby ten fold and he pushed himself back... and succeeded in falling onto his ass rather than finding his feet. His hair flopped into his face and he pushed it back quickly in case the tall figure tried anything. He didn't... though he did slowly sink onto his haunches to get a better look at him.

Toby frowned and looked around him quickly before looking back again with a defiant, childish look that clearly spoke of his contempt at being stared at. Who did this guy think he was looking down at him like this? This time the stranger's mouth twitched and curled up on one side briefly, his eyes lowering but for a moment. His burning gaze landed on his wrist. Toby looked down too with a hint of fear but saw only the bracelet that Sarah had made him a year or two back when she'd stayed for a weekend to look after him while their folks were out of town. Gold and blue braided thread with a clear, crackle effect bead securing it together. He'd made her a blue and silver one the same day with a fawn coloured feather stuck in it but somehow they'd lost it. Or at least Sarah had said it had been lost. He'd never seen it since anyway.

The gloved hand reached out but paused an inch above it... then snatched back as if it'd been burned. The figure's expression looked pained... vulnerable even before he turned away from him and brought the hand to press against his mouth. Then through clenched fingers the figure spoke.

"Am I never to be free from these damned nightmares?" The man hissed, glaring at nothing in particular.

He glanced back at Toby, then the bracelet, then away again. The sun's fading beams lit the man up from behind in scarlet, violets and gold and he turned his gaze toward it as his nostrils flared, leaving Toby with a rising feeling of apprehension bubbling in his gut. Only one of the man's pupils had shrank in the dying light. A barely audible snarl curled the rather strange person's top lip and he shot his gaze back to Toby's as his other hand also appeared clenched in a tight fist.

"Forever cursed to live these harrowing dreams for _one mistake_?"

His hand flashed to his boot and came back with a riding crop which he directed threateningly towards the point between Toby's eyes, making them cross as they tried to focus on the crop's tip.

"Well, you cretin?! I demand to know who is sending you to breech through the deepest recesses of my mind! This crime is akin to treason by the laws of this land!"

His eyes were wide, livid with anger. The separate dilations of the man's eyes was starting to get to the boy even before his gaze dropped slightly to the snarl of the man's mouth, his teeth glinting like the flash of a knife. Toby's mouth ran dry. Unconsciously, he wiped his now sweating palms on his jeans.

"Wh-who are you? And which land are you on about?" He asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

The petulance and stubbornness that rose to the occasion around his family so swiftly had abandoned him, leaving him to tremble like a freshly shot arrow that had met it's mark in a tree. The stranger growled and rose off his haunches and back onto his feet fluidly as a hand shot forward and grabbed Toby by the front of his shirt. The back of his jeans left the ground by a couple of inches but for all the difference it made he could have been suspended above a chasm.

"The King of the Goblins, fool. And land? The one you are currently standing in, creature! From the edges of the Labyrinth to beyond the Goblin city. Look to the Horizons and you will see the sprawling scenes of the land I hold. Now,"

He yanked him up from the ground with sudden force and speed that sent him staggering when he was released. A 'glass' ball had appeared in the blond's hand and was steadily filling with an ominous coloured smoke that flickered and sparked against its confining edge. Toby stared at it with terrified eyes as he held onto his shirt with one hand and backed away, stumbling,

"I believe I demanded an answer from you. What are you and what are you doing here? Who sent you?!"

Toby's heart was pounding in his ears. He just wanted to go home, to be free of this place and this clearly deranged psycho. His throat constricted further as he continued watching the ball transfixed.

"I... I... I'm Toby Williams. I'm just having a bad dream because I ate all those chips before bed and you're not real and I'm going to wake up in my room in a m-minute.."

He looked around him for a way to wake himself up, turning his back on him and subsequently missed the look that crossed the 'king's' face.

"This is just a really bad nightmare, which for some horrible reason has a man with too-tight trousers on."

He was promptly grabbed by the shoulder- gentler this time- and spun around to face the man again... who was so close he could see his pale reflection in his iris'. The ice blue gaze that held his this time was calculating and intent to the point Toby felt that his stomach was about to drop out of him and through the ground. This was it. He was about to die.

"...How can it be when I haven't lowered the wards in years..."

The man cleared his throat again. His breath smelled vaguely of apples and wine. The disgusting smell of vinegar gave it away.

"...Tell me then, Toby, do you know someone by the name of S-... of Sa..."

He paused, briefly closing his eyes as he collected his bearings.

"...by the name of Sa-rah?"

Toby scoffed and rolled his eyes. Typical. Even in his nightmares there were guys after his sister, why couldn't they go bother her instead? His fear was momentarily forgotten. Clearing his throat, he delivered his readied spiel before the stranger could attempt to interrupt.

"Ugh, yes. Yes, She's my sister. No, she's not looking to date. Because she's really focused on school. She's studying Drama. No she doesn't need a Study Partner. Etc. Etc. She's really weird I know."

He recited his usual monologue - that she'd made him memorise whenever some guy came randomly asking about her - in a clearly bored voice. When he looked back at the blond it was to see him looking very amused, his head tilted slightly to the side.

"Like really weird, apparently when she was younger she used to practise plays with the dog."  
He frowned.  
"What? Now why are you staring at me?!"

The man let out a half hearted laugh and straightened up.

"This is... impossible. It has been many years, Toby." His gravelly baritone wasn't familiar. It _wasn't._ "You were but a sorely spoiled infant last time we met in a situation born of chance and fate the same. My name is Jareth."

Instead of receiving the awe-filled reaction he had clearly been expecting, he got something else.  
Toby snorted.

"I've never met you in my life, sir. You're _wrong_."

The track they were on was growing darker by the minute and he huddled into himself to stave of the worst of the cold, his gaze dropping to the ground where he kicked at a stone. It hit the boot of the weirdo lying to him. Jareth's brows rose.

"Oh, I daresay I'm not. I looked after you for 17 hours and 14 minutes while your sister ran my Labyrinth. Hard to forget such a promising child."

Jareth momentarily looked down to his boot and toed the stone away from him with a look of contempt. His mind was buzzing. _This was entirely impossible._

A shred of memory swept into the adolescent's mind of a horrible striped baby-grow covering stubby legs and trying to eat something pointy and weird. He looked back at the amulet questioningly. Then he blushed as he saw a few scratches at it's base.

"N-no, you're wrong. My mom says Sarah made it all up as a bedtime story to get me to sleep. Sarah says so too. You're lying."

Jareth's face became pinched as if he'd been slapped and his mouth thinned into a line again as his back straightened. His tone was exasperated.

"I am _not_ a liar Toby. As for the woman you call a mother-"

 _"Don't you speak about my Mom!_ _Sarah_ said it was all a lie too, you hear! A laughable, made up _children's_ story meant only to stop my tantrums!"

Jareth looked like he'd been slapped. But underneath that he looked... angry. His fingers unfurled and curled a couple of times as he came to pace around the spot the boy stood on, his arms crossed across his chest with the crop poking out by his elbow from his other hand. Nostrils flared, blond wisps caressed his jawline as the breeze picked up and he set his fiery gaze on the back of Toby's skull.

"She never showed you the book I left her? The toys I pushed her way? The music box I convinced her father to buy her? The damned figurine he got her from a 'garage sale' for her 13th birthday?" He asked quietly.

The words were heavy, each one dropping like a stone weight as his chest began to heave. Toby laughed.

"You mean the toys she gave me that she said she didn't like?"  
He rolled his eyes again.  
"The music box has sat on her shelf since... as long as I can remember. The weird doll thing that looks like you as well. And a... a fake peach which sits on top of her stupid red book. She left it all when she moved out and told Mom to get rid of it."

Jareth paused... then resumed his preoccupied walk. His fingers came up to rest on his chin thoughtfully as he glared at the stars now appearing in the dusky sky.

"And did she?"

A noise that seems partial to prepubescent boys emitted from Toby and he shook his head with an expression that told him he thought he was stupid. The bushes nearby rustled.

"No? I wouldn't let her. I like them, they remind me of my sister when she wasn't so... adulty. When she was fun."

He looked down at the ground and kicked at a sorry looking weed. "Do you remember the story she used to tell you?" He was then asked. He thought about it - letting out a burp as he did so, unapologetically- then shook his head.

"Not really. She stopped reading it to me before I turned 6. Why?"

Jareth walked away from him a little, the wind picking up drastically as he did so.

"I suggest you read that 'stupid red book' when you get the chance. You might find something in it that'll change your outlook on things."

Toby glowered back at him, repressing the urge to stick out his tongue or swear at him as he knew his next door neighbour Chris would have done.

"What if I-"

"That concludes our meeting. Should we ever meet again, I hope you are less ignorant. Run along back to your bed, Toby. Even Princes need their beauty sleep."

The colour was running out of the scene around him, the details of Jareth fading faster than the sun behind him.

"And even Princes need to do their homework. Read the book Toby. Till next time..."

A ball had appeared in his hand once more, though it reflected more light than any glass that the boy had ever seen before. Flashing like a smile, it was thrown up in the air where it hung for a moment... before hurtling towards the ground like a bullet. When it smashed, Toby woke up in his own bed to see his mother bustling about his room and moaning about the smell. Subtly, he lifted the covers to check what he was wearing and sighed in relief.

It had been a dream. He was at home where he was supposed to be. No mad blond men were trying to interrogate him here. He smiled. Karen paused and looked at him suspiciously before leaving with a comment about breakfast getting cold while he slept his life away in his bed. Instead of getting up he stretched and got comfortable again. Breakfast would still be there by the time he went downstairs. Then he rolled over towards his bedside unit with plans of going back to sleep...and froze. Resting upon the clutter covering it's surface lay a small 'glass' ball containing a single piece of red and white striped material.

* * *

Jareth tuned back into reality with a small start. His head was resting against the stone arch of a window he'd been previously surveying his Labyrinth at, his hair caught behind his pointed ear. The labyrinth was falling into ruin with each passing year without a runner. Sarah had spelled one of his last... no child seemed to believe in the magic of it anymore. Of him, anymore. She had taken so much from him when she so cruelly spurned him and his offer. His Kingdom had suffered for it, as had he. As had his place in the higher council of the Fae and subsequently his reputation. What was the use of being held on a pedestal for being merciless and firm with his subjects, almost miraculous with his magical skill... when he was now disregarded in every other aspect. Possible betrothals had fallen through when they began to question why the Mortal had turned him down so carelessly, why he hadn't managed to woo a young girl who should have been swept off his own feet.

For years he'd questioned it too. The Labyrinth had been left to fall into disrepair and the Goblins were hard tasked to keep it from crumbling altogether. His once weekly Open Council where the heads of the Goblin clans would come to plea before him for a solution to their woes had turned into monthly.  
He still sorted everything though. Usually before the Elders sent their grunts running up to the foreboding castle to throw themselves upon his mercy.

And now he was questioning whether his senses were taking leave of him. To imagine he had seen one of the Williams' spawn in his lands mere hours before, practically grovelling in fear before bouncing back with adolescent confidence upon his questioning. It was impossible. More than that, it was highly improbable. He had heard Sarah's last words to the portal he had given her- what she thought of as her mirror- so clearly he'd been half expecting her to be standing before him when the words rang out.

No, she had forgotten. Grown up and given up everything he'd given her. But perhaps not everything he'd imparted to her... she was still the young woman who had left his realm to atone for her sins and patch things up with her family. Or at least had been last time he'd caught glimpse of her... before she'd enshrouded her mirror with a look of uncomfortable distrust.

Toby, his once potential heir, had no idea who he was. The child he was so willing to take in, give title's and power to, was oblivious to the existence of this land and his once possible heritage. And it was all Her doing. He was truly mad if he thought he'd managed to bridge that gap and ensnare the young man's imagination while he slept to speak to him.

The High Council would have the case of privacy breach to contend with when they next congregated. He was not going to stand for someone so boldly breaking through the wards of his mind into his darkest shames and exploiting them. His piercing gaze lifted to look at the gates that had opened to an ignorant girl mere years before, then he rose to his feet with an air of purpose. Turning on his heel, his poets shirt billowing slightly in the morning breeze, Jareth swept back down the grand sweeping corridor towards his study.

A cluster of shaking goblins poked their heads out of the nook they'd dived in to avoid their liege's passing. The smallest one with a purple tinge to it's bloated face looked up at their leader 'Hirp' with a trembling lip.

"Kingie looks mad.." He whispered.

Red eyes swivelled down to the vulnerable orange ones below them and a small nod bobbed at him. "Yesss... but he is mistaken. I saw the boy, too!" Hirp rasped back softly, following Jareth's departure with great interest.

A grunt came from his left as he accidentally elbowed the goblin who's back he was on and then an obnoxiously bellowing sneeze.

"Wot did you say?" He asked loudly, his congested sounding voice ringing out along the otherwise quiet hall.  
The entire group rounded on him with glowering eyes.  
"Shhht!"

* * *

A/N: It's been a while since I've written like this. R&R please 3


	2. Chapter 2: New Beginnings

A/N: Okay so I'm terrible and I haven't updated since January. SHOCKING I KNOW! What can I say... Life got away from me. I'll try to post more regularly from now on. As always, please R&R, reviews make me happy and I post faster :D

* * *

A white feather, its tip tinged with gold, spiraling as it fell slowly through the empty air of a cloudy sky as its former owner flew over the sprawling desolate land below it, accelerating over the sparse topped mountains with dark amber eyes flashing with fury. The wind whipped past the owl like knives as his wings beat viciously in his haste to speed onward past the looming towers of rock in his path, protecting and shielding the horizon from his eyes at every turn. The anger that thrummed through him fueled his adrenaline, both of which at this point were the only things keeping him airborne. The journey was perilous at best even without the weather working against you, and he had been in the sky too long to recall what time he had departed. His only thought was to reach the expansive grounds and fortress of the High Council before the sun embarked on its descent or else he would freeze; and none would find him.

Leaning left, his wing dipped and he soared around another formation of crumbling stone, the sun catching the gold on his tips and sending it flashing blindingly in reflection until he dipped back into the shade. The others would have been alerted to his presence now even though he had neglected to send word ahead, and he hoped they were ready for his wrath when he landed. In his talons he gripped a single scroll tied with a royal blue and gold fringed ribbon which continuously caught the wind and slowed him every time he turned. An inexperienced flier might have been sent off course from the drag, but then again an inexperienced flier would not have dared a trip to the High Council for fear of being turned out and banished from their midst. Only the best got to speak with them, and only Jareth dared to approach them with his ire on his sleeve and his intent drawn clearly upon his face. Some queried how he hadn't been disgraced and shunned for his actions and decorum thus far, and those were the ones that would never amount to anything from displaying such evident ignorance.

As he peaked, catching an updraft to carry him above the final chasm, the White Spire suddenly appeared in front of him like a beacon of pure light from behind an overlarge outcrop. The central point of the Fae Government, the marker alerted travelers that they had arrived before they could look below or beyond it and blinded those unworthy of entering within the wards and the walls of the Great City. For this reason no Mortal could chance or happen upon the uncharted territory should they find themselves in the wrong realm, nor could they escape if they were delivered unto the citadel for crimes extensive enough to merit a meeting with the High a mortal, to come this far meant near certain death. For Jareth it was reason to tuck in his wings and dive as he became streamlined, ripping through the vacant air towards the fortress that sat proud upon the precipice of a great cliff waiting for him sending the wind whistling and howling past him like a distant banshee. Below the White Spire lay Teraurumalis; The City of Crystal, where any Fae whether of high standing and blood ties or normalcy to the Southern and Eastern borders were brought up and where the members of the council dwelled.

Which naturally meant he was looking upon the place where he had grown up and trained as not just a soldier, but a Lord and King, and instead of feeling sentimental or nostalgic, his mood worsened until the black shadow of anger was almost tangible beside him like another shadow. Another updraft of air lifted him above the blanket of clouds once more and he lost sight of his childhood home for a few moments giving him time to shake the muddling protective wards from his mind as they tried to settle upon him. A moment later a symbol lit up on his breast in ultraviolet rays, eliciting a cry of pain as it stole his breath, but just as soon as it appeared it was gone again within the confines of his downing. Dipping back under the misty blanket, his now glistening wings carried him as he circled around the bell tower and the upper district as the beams from the sun sent blinding glares his way once... twice... before he descended further to alight upon the top of the marble steps.

As he touched down with another flash, the water from the nearby waterfalls and rivers pooled and surged and began wrapped around him in another protective wave and a last line of defense and admittance. He could feel his power dampened as the water drew back again, leaving boots where there had been talons and a head of blonde hair where a crown of gold feathers had sat seconds before. Flicking his hands out to the sides derisively with a snap, the last of the water droplets were sent flying to the flagstones underfoot where they splashed and halted. The scroll appeared in his hand from the back of his boot as his mismatched eyes flicked between the posted guards... then he momentarily turned on his heel to look upon the city that draped along the land as far as he could see from his vantage point, looking to where it merged on the horizon with the level of clouds that hid the treacherous map of sharpened but broken stone spikes and endless crevices that would lead anyone foolish enough to attempt the route to their imminent and agonising death. Upon thinking that final thought he smirked, the expression growing as his mouth twisted into a dark toothy smile and he ducked his head.

When he had been young... naive... he had imagined himself standing where he stood now as the ruler of their central axis, the leader of the Fae in their dominion. How he would have pulled the Country he now stood in back to its feet and from under the thumbs of those now controlling it, starting a new age for them all. But...That had been before... and that mattered to him and to others no longer. His smile disappeared like it had been slapped from his face and he span around once more to leave the breathtaking scenery behind him at his back. What mattered now was that he _was_ a ruler and a leader like he had imagined, of a far greater land. No one else had been fit to take over the Country and land he now held under his title. None had been able to wrest control from the frankly horrific beasts that had occupied the domain until he had been assigned it as a fools task. And in doing so he had won it in more ways that one and had merged his magic and his soul within it, becoming their and its King and he their eternal servant. There was time enough to appreciate what could have been, but for now he wasn't here on a sight seeing trip fit for reminiscing or for a social call. This was strictly business. And justice. Stalking past the guards, he didn't even spare them a glance as he strode past them with his hands clenched in fists by his side and disappeared into the gloom beyond the open golden doors. Above him, the marker sent out a final flash of light then settled dormant yet again.

The Halls of Aurea were vast, far greater than what its exterior told, and far more lavish as well. Tapestries and crystal figurines adorned the walls where the stone was windowless, sconces burned white in their 4 foot tall holders along the floor. Expansive twin sprawling staircases greeted him upon first walking in, but he ignored them too in favour of continuing off to the side where another set of Guards were stationed. When he came into view they immediately swept to the side to let him pass, heads nearly touching the floor as they bowed deeply in respect, but his eyes stayed forward as he entered the door they had left vacant and slid across the mesh guard with a vicious swipe of his hand before they could attempt to aid him. A moment later the golden laced cage slid upwards, leaving the men behind, and leaving him with no option but to look upon the shrinking city once more. His parents were down there, somewhere, lost among the rest of the occupants of the Upper district. He had no desire to see them, though he knew they would be alerted that he had entered Aurea upon his departure. No doubt there would be an influx of letters once more too. It was just as well he was running low on kindling for the fire otherwise the idea of that might have annoyed him.

The scroll in his hand was tapped off the top of his thigh as he waited impatiently for the cage to ascend to the highest point of the building and take him to the court he had summoned. The ribbon was very much still intact as was his official wax seal, and he eyed both with mild interest so he couldn't be forced to look upon the over-celebrated place vanishing from view below him. Not too long later he drew to a halt, and before the officials waiting for him could react the grate had been yanked back and he was striding along across the carpeted marble floor towards the ivory towering doors at the other end of the hall. A troupe of guards flanked him, forcing him to slow his pace much to his agitation, but he did his best not to let it show. Glancing to his left, his old friend Xavior walked with his chin high and his expression proud... but a moment later it broke into a grin as he turned to look at Jareth.

"Your feather's are more ruffled that usual, my friend. I hope you are remembering that assault of any council member is treason and stands for grounds of banishment?" He greeted him jovially, the others behind him looking between themselves worriedly before looking forward once more.

Jareth broke a smile finally but otherwise he didn't move to confirm or deny. Not content with silence, the redhead tried again with a slightly softer expression as they rounded a corner and nearly knocked a servant and her duster to the floor. Catching herself, the woman scurried off and the sound of a closing door met his ears as his old comrade sighed.

"Whatever has happened, I'm sure you'll get it resolved. You always do. But might I ask that this time you refrain from insulting our King and ranting on his questionable or not practices? Maybe take a moment to visit your parents? Your Mother, Lavanya, she grows increasingly concerned with each visit of yours that passes without a visit. Some of my men are late from their border patrols because she waylays them in order to try and ascertain word from her son. It really is growing rather tedious, I have to say." He continued, his face turning forward too as they neared the doors.

A pang ran through Jareth at mention of the former lady but he grit his teeth to stave it off. Xavior was one of the few still alive that had grown up with him and for that reason alone talk of his Mother was permitted, but that did not mean he was going to enjoy the conversation. Swallowing the words he wanted to say forcefully, he took a moment to pull his cuffs slightly further over his gloves and and straightened his back.

"Now is not the time for pleasantries and social calls, Xavior. She had her chance, many a time before now. I am not at fault if she ran out of chances. Now if you'll excuse me, a matter of higher importance awaits me than an emotional wench. Insults or not, this matter is of great importance. And it cannot stand to be brushed off or go unheeded this time. I simply will not allow it."

He allowed the group to escort him as far as the doors, which groaned as they opened inwards with a gust of cold air to spill yet more light into the vast chamber before them. Then he broke from their ranks without a farewell and continued on past the Thrones that sat proud on top of the dais at the far end of the room to a nearly invisible door on the the right. The blond paused momentarily outside it to steel himself, then with a rap of his knuckles upon the wood to alert them of his presence he pushed the handles inwards and walked into the private solace and the group of Lords and Ladies waiting. Jareth had a volatile relationship and place within the hierarchy as it was already and it was questioned each and every time he graced these very halls with his presence. More often than not he was only there to aid in casting his vote for himself and his subjects, or giving his opinions on matters of security, their land and their people, and of their separate leaders. The balance on which this meeting was resting on stood to be overturned if one or the other set one foot wrong and yet once more he was the one entering their palace with an aggressive purpose. He knew in his heart of hearts that doing so was a fools folly but it did little and less to settle the turmoil within him.

Tobias Williams was not in any position to be breaching the recesses of his mind, breaking through the walls in his mind to render him at an emotional and literal disadvantage while he slumbered. And as a mortal, there was no way it could actually have been the boy; meaning someone or thing had managed to rip through his defenses. As a matter of personal and greater security it could not go unaddressed. And if they tried to abstain from action this time his hand would be forced. Looking around them his expression hardened, and he stepped further into the room. His gloved hands slid from the handles and the doors swung shut behind him with a rather decisive thud truly bringing the conversation within the room to a halt. The High King sat with his Wife Yennifer on his right around a grandly carved table depicting scenes of peace and harmony, looking thoughtfully up at Jareth as he drew himself to his full height and lifted his chin. The Captain of the Guard slid into the room a second later, and Xavior shot a frown at him as he took his seat. His first Lieutenant was seated across from him with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, and a smattering of the Rulers who ran the neighbouring kingdoms to his own were in evidence as well. Walking forward with his seething rolling off him in waves, he all but threw the scroll in his hand at the King and watched as the heads turned to follow its course as it landed right between the man's arms.

"So I finally have your attention, _my leige._ "

He snarled, pulling out his designated seat and dropping into it. The older man drew back from him with narrowed eyes and he had to fight a wicked grin as he glanced from his Wife to Xavior then back to Jareth. The scroll rolled back and forth slightly before stopping and the breaths in the room had visibly caught as they waited for Eanraig's reaction.

 **"** Please, open it. Now. While we're all present." He added a moment later, leaning forwards as he bit out the words.

Eanraig continued to watch him from his seat, his finger tapping occasionally on the solid wood he rested on causing Jareth's nostrils to flare in agitation. Minutes passed, then cream gloves picked up the scroll and handed it backwards to their herald to read it out.

"Let it be known that my Herald Kaen will read out the cause of this council's summoning, in light of Lord Jareth's-"

Jareth held up his hand and immediately interjected, "King Jareth's, actually..."

Eanraig's jaw clenched, his eyes flashing at the interruption before he reluctantly inclined his head in agreement.

"My pardon's. In light of _King_ Jareth's accusation's against _his_ King and Council, as well as fellow Ruler's and Protector's of our kind, for... what is it exactly?"

He broke off as he suddenly sat up straight, displacing his wife's calming hand and looking at Jareth as if he'd dragged them in there to discuss the Weather. Xaviour sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth and snapped his eyes to lock onto his friend's for a moment before sending a glare his Majesty's way. Queen Yennifer moved both hands into her lap and looked around them all benignly as Kaen finally slipped off the ribbon and broke the wax seal. The moments of silence that ensued while he gave it a cursory once over were tense and loaded, the glares and pointed looks bouncing between them heated enough to warm the chilled room. With a short cough to clear his throat, the Squire chanced a look up at them before returning his eyes to the script and took in a deep breath.

 **"** Jareth Kingston, King of the Goblins and Ruler of the Goblin Kingdom and Surrounding Labyrinth and lands, hereby accuses the High Court and Royal Hierarchy of... Mind Breaching, Treason, Assault and Security Breaks. If the Court is found innocent of these crimes then the perpetrator must be found and dealt with henceforth, and His Majesty Jareth will resume connections and law abiding from the Crown. If found guilty, the main perpetrator must be held accountable. No exceptions."

Yennifer's brows shot up as she looked between her husband... down to her Nephew. Lord Lachlan was starting to laugh over by the King's right hand side but this was quickly drowned out by Lady Patrycja's indignant response from beside Xavior. Jareth ignored them all as he continued staring intently at Eanraig and waited for his reply. The seconds stretched out into minutes and Kaen excused himself to depart through the nearest door, letting the laughter ring out until the man was silenced by his own wife. Jareth pushed his chair back and stood finally drawing their eyes and in doing so missed the look of satisfaction that crossed his Uncle's face as their gaze was cut.

"One week ago, I was attacked while resting within the walls of my own Castle. I was brought to a Mortal of whom I have not seen in many years who was standing within the borders on my realm."

He stated bluntly, sweeping his gaze across their faces. No one met his eye besides his Uncle and Lord Lachlan, the latter of who raised his own hand while his expression was positively amused.

 **"** Are you sure you weren't merely _dreaming_ , my lord?" He asked, earning a few titters and chuckles from the small congregated party.

Even Eanraig cracked a smile though Yennifer looked rather stony faced. Jareth's smile was sharp and mirthless as he rounded on the weedy man, his hands once more tucked his back.

 ** _"_** _Quite sure,_ Lachlan. You see, _dreams_ are things _I specialise_ in spinning and manipulating, or have you forgotten? Dreams, _sir_ , don't leave behind things like footprints and mucus miles from where you sleep. _Do they?"_ He fired back.

The laughter died and the other man had the decency to lower his gaze with an admission of 'no'. Looking around them again, Lady Patrycja then raised a hand with a simpering expression and batted her eyes at him to get his attention.

"You haven't been yourself for quite some time, my lord. Perhaps... perhaps it was one of those dear Runner's of yours that so enjoy running around in your little maze?"

Xavior groaned as the temperature plummeted, but she just continued to smile and simper at the blond who's face had twisted into ugly displeasure. A crystal ball suddenly appeared in Jareth's hand, it's contents rapidly filling with dark smoke as he ground out a response.

"My little maze, hm? No, Patrycja, it was not a runner. It was an adolescent boy who was once wished away as an infant. The only one who's wisher ran and completed my Labyrinth without giving up, running out of time or horrifically dying. I am appalled at just how terrible our memories are becoming... perhaps this Council is unfit for this let alone running the country we find ourselves in."

Throwing the ball upwards without warning, it grew and inflated like a bubble until the scene of Toby's most recent venture to the Goblin realm was visible to them all. Immediately Lachlan protested with phrases like 'Impossible' and 'Treason! Lies!" but Yennifer silenced him with a small pass of her hand. They watched until the orb grew dark once more and burst then their Queen turned to her Nephew with glistening eyes. Standing from her chair, she ignored her Husband's queries as she swept over to him and pulled him in for a slight embrace. Her platinum blond curls hid his face as he bowed into her hold and he could feel the wetness clinging to her lashes as she blinked against his neck. It was over as soon as it began, but she didn't retreat further than a couple of steps.

 **"** That was neither of our doing, but I assure you my husband will deal with it. But Jareth... darling, I saw no malice in that boy. Are you sure it wasn't... _him_?" She lowered her voice at the last few words, but Jareth snapped his head to the side in refute.

The woman bowed her head and curtsied, stepping away and back over to her her chair where her hands rested along its carved back.

"Very well. Let it be known the Council has heard these claims and assumes responsibility for finding it's cause. This matter will be discussed among the habitual council members and King Jareth is granted permittance to return home."

With a chorus of acquiescence, the other Lords and Ladies stood up and bowed to each other before excusing themselves and filing out. Xavior nodded at him on his way out and tapped his breast pocket where he carried his pocket watch to signal he'd see him later before Jareth departed once more from Aurea and by extension Teraurumalis. Eanraig watched the doors fall shut then sighed, letting the tension fall from his shoulders as the last one disappeared. When he lifted his gaze back to his Nephew it was with a broad grin.

"Business, how I hate it so. Come, Jareth, I haven't seen you in many a moon's turn. Let's leave your Aunt back to her studies; I'd like you to take a walk with me."

Jareth nodded stiffly and walked around the table with graceful speed, falling into step beside the older Man as they were shown out of the Solar and into the gardens. As a child these very same grounds had worried him as he hadn't understood how plants could survive at such a height, but now as an adult and a man in his own right he dismissed the thought from his mind. His Aunt Yennifer loved these gardens and tended them herself, often joking she was doing their god's work. They walked along together in companionable silence, their hands clasped behind their backs and their heads bowed. Passing another lady the both bowed and averted their eyes until she passed out of respect, then resumed their pace past the cordealias and towards the Moonflower mantle towards the East Wing. He let his mind wander as his feet carried him easily, his boots clicking quietly along the flagstones.

His Aunt had given him food for thought. Was there a chance it could have been Toby? He didn't imagine so. What could possibly cause him to have means of reaching his lands and realm without magical aid now after all these years? His lack of recollection of where he had been had been painful and it had cut. It was plainly obvious that S... that Sa... that his sister had neglected to bring him up with the story, the truth, of who and what he could have been. What _should_ have been. The doorway he had gifted her hadn't seen light for nearly 10 years in her world, far longer in their own. And with each year that passed he was expected to choose a consort to replace his plan and to take her as a wife before his land and crown was deemed unnecessary and he lost his title and place within the council. As if reading his thoughts, his Uncle cleared his throat pointedly to draw his attention. Scratching at his jaw, he smooth his fingers over his beard for a moment as he chose his words and Jareth steeled himself for what was to come.

"...Jareth... I know I have been hard on you in recent years. Since your father lost his place here in Aurea, I swore to take you on as mine own. I'd like to think I haven't done too badly with all things considered." The man began.

His low gravelly tones carried slightly across the grounds but they were blissfully alone save for the insects and the birds that had taken up residence long before. Walking under the beautifully masoned arches Jareth stayed silent but inclined his head, opting to stay silent while he organised his thoughts and listened. His Uncle sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose, but he persevered and pushed on.

"This business with that Mortal... I had hoped that it would disappear. And partially it has. The main source of the problem that plagues you is gone, son, and instead of moving on from it you have let it consume you until now She still has a deep rooted place within your soul. Your land and your subjects are suffering from it, Jareth. I can stand by and watch you ruin both it and yourself no longer."

His deep blue eyes swiveled round to look at him again but Jareth merely bowed his head and looked away, his gloved hands closing and unfurling a few times. The breeze coming in from the surrounding plateau was brisk and cold, stirring the flowers and the shrubs beside them as a few leaves blew past by their feet. The sun was now embarking on its descent behind them and he focused on drinking in the image of how it lit up the garden in blazing red and gold while he chose his response. How did one speak of the untold and puzzling yearning he found within himself even after all this time? All for one girl. One that had originally been too young to understand what he had been offering her, willing to sacrifice and give her had she given him the chance. His hand came up to grip his jaw for a moment, his eyes clenching shut while his mind fended off the onslaught of the closed up emotion and the memory of Her.

"...Then don't watch, Uncle. For I see no way out of the void in which I have fallen into nor do I care to find one."

Eanraig nodded solemnly, then placed a hand on his shoulder to steer them towards the marble fountain over to their right. The flagstones underfoot turned from cream to sandstone, each embossed with the emblem of the Fae which lit up in the dying light to wink up at them. An all too familiar bench appeared and he was pushed into it a moment later quite firmly before the Higher King took his place beside him. And for a while they sat in silence watching the rays catch the cascading water colouring it in breath taking colours and listening to it trickle and fall continuously. In some ways Jareth likened it to time, which was one of his unique powers within the council. How it flowed. It was quite like water without the solidity or assurance of being reachable and it was often ignored. In the quiet his thoughts wandered once more, but this time they traveled home to where he had recently left for this journey. His Labyrinth had long fallen into disrepair from lack of runners and personal neglect on his part, though it had been crumbling from the walls ever since Sarah had come, shaken everything to the core, and left.

Her "friends" who had aided her had served their sentences in his dungeons and were free... but they had all but lost who they had once been too. The fire she had evoked in them had long died, and after years of sticking together they had splintered off one by one back to their old places to live out the rest of their lives alone in solitary. He had had two runners since the Williams duo, but neither had bowled him over or achieved any great feats. The first had ran out of time after falling foul of an oubliette and had consequently given up instead of fighting Jareth like Sarah had, going home with his head hung low and his tail between his legs. His baby sister had been turned the same day before she could work out what had happened and sent to live in the Goblin city. The second had gotten as far as the Entrance, taken one look at Hoggle killing the sprites and had balked. She had walked away from her twin cousins with a derisive laugh and had he not been magically binded from doing so it would have been her that he'd taken and kept to turn into another of the Goblin Horde.

"By doing so I let you forfeit you place in this Kingdom and our council, so alas I cannot. You see... It comes again that time that I must press you to do the right thing. The _needed_ thing, if you as well as your kingdom and lineage is to continue and prevail like your parents, Aunt and I hope it will. You understand my position, don't you? I cannot be like this in front of others unless you accept who you are and stop humiliating yourself and the rest of us. _It's time to move on._ "

Eanraig sat with his hands clasped between his knees, his own armour bulking his already large and rounded shoulders as his hooded features pulled into a frown. He didn't understand, that much was and always had been clear. Why 'fall' for a mortal when he could have so much more? Why risk everything he had and was for one measly little girl? It was foolish. It was incomprehensible. It defied everything they knew as a species. But the answer was simple; it was because Jareth had felt he could. Because for once he had been challenged and had felt alive for 17 hours and 12 minutes instead of the 13 hours he should have given her. He had bent the rules, reordered time, turned the world upside down all over the head of a 15 year old girl with an attitude problem and no sense of self preservation. When it was laid out before him he could see it plainly, though it did nothing to alleviate the feeling within him. However, contrary to popular belief in the rumour mill in Teraurumalis, it wasn't exactly love he felt for the girl anymore- or rather, the woman. It was _anger_. Aggravation. Contempt. Utter unadulterated frustration and agitation. Love was not an emotion he had ever claimed to have or to experience.

But he couldn't refute there had been a bond of sorts that had risen its head and he was damned if he knew what it was. The older Fae turned his head finally to look directly at him, his black hair speckled hair falling over his shoulder as his silver eyes latched onto Jareth's, his brow quirked expectantly. Jareth kept from blinking as he looked down at him, his nostrils flaring again as he finally accepted what had been coming for years. Centuries. His responsibilities had finally caught up with him, and there would be no shirking them now.

"You want me to take a wife." He finally spoke, his husky voice carrying slightly across the evening breeze.

It carried across the garden slightly but they were the only two to hear it as the birds had since departed. His white shirt billowed slightly as the wind picked up a little, stirring his blond hair and pushing it from his face to show off his angular features now made more prominent with the growing shadows. His admission panged painfully, but even as he said it the same part of him that had always protected him from personal destruction or true emotion rose up and swallowed it till he felt numb again. Eanraig sighed but nodded, looking down at the ground between his feet.

"It's what's needed of you now, Jareth. Expected, in fact. Your Aunt has had quite the task of finding Ladies of repute that she deems worthy of her Nephew. If I recall truly, your Mother helped as well. **"**

The words rang out simply, softly, his accent lilting and melodic as the authoritative edge was well and truly lost. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled up at him, letting out a huffing laugh as he shook his head.

"Women, Jareth. What marvelous and miraculous creatures they are if somewhat scheming and hard to understand, hm?"

The sound of Xavior calling to his men from inside the castle could be heard distantly, drifting in on the wind and dying away again making the blond finally smile a little.

"Your journey here was as entertaining as always, by the way. Xavior could be heard laughing from the bell tower hours before you crested; he thinks you amusing if somewhat dramatic even still. I'm glad the two of you are still good friends. It gave him enough time to alert the servants to make up your room for the night and to tell the cook's to change their dinner plans to accommodate your palette. I must say I've never had Gregaiovic Wine before but is sounds... intriguing."

This time it was Jareth who laughed, the sound of which brought a sparkle to his Uncle's eyes and stopped the shouting from within the Keep's wall's in its tracks. It had been a while since anyone had heard him let alone seen him anything more than mildly irritated or bored in his own kingdom let alone in Teraurumalis or Aurea.

 **"** It is an... acquired taste. I told him of it once when he visited years back, Year of Limune, and he got it into his head that it's considered a delicacy. Tomorrow morning shall be entertaining indeed... I will have to loiter around and stay for breakfast to share in the hilarity. Your captain might be unfit a trip to the lavatory let alone your army, however."

Eanraig grinned, his teeth glinting as he nodded to himself.

"Never a boring day with you around, dear Nephew. Now come along; we can enjoy Xavior ruining himself before you choose your bride tomorrow. Yennifer simply won't let you leave until you've at least perused the collection of Ladies she has pulled together for your inspection."

Rising to his feet, he clapped him on the shoulder gently and stepped away to lead the path back towards the fortress. Jareth watched him for a moment with his face expressionless but stood a moment later to follow in his wake. Not for the first time he cursed the gods for his existence and the situation that had followed and now caught up with him but there was little to be done for it now. He was no longer a child and as such had no excuses or need to foil the plans and ideals of the council any longer.

And without notice from either fae, a single crystal ball fell from their retreating backs and smashed soundlessly into water droplets on the stone behind them, and thousands miles away in a separate world Sarah Williams woke up with a start in her University dormitory with a scream.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews guys!

* * *

A scream rang out through the halls of her dorm. Visions of gloved hands reaching for her throat and a swinging sharp pendant still clouding her eyes and shielding from her the contents of her room. A ringing in her ears of smashing crystal and a sense of dread served to keep her already racing heartbeat leaping in her chest. One hand was clutched at her throat as if in a desperate attempt to prise someone else's fingers off while the other buried itself behind her under her pillow, searching frantically for a possession she swore to know nothing about in her conscious life. As her questing fingertips finally grazed it a sense of calm stole through her and she allowed herself to smile. Her green eyes closed for a moment, and when they opened once more it was to be greeted by the sight of her coursework stacked in a leaning pile on the other side of the room and last nights clothes sticking out of her laundry hamper. There were no threats here, nor had there ever been. But still the lingering feeling that she couldn't breathe and the threat of imminent danger clung to her like the sheen of sweat from the night of dreaming and she couldn't shake it as it settled like a lead weight into her gut. Because... what if this time she was right? After so many false alarms what if this one nightmare was a warning?

Sarah pressed her hand to her forehead and smiled wryly, swinging her legs out of her bed and shaking her raven hair from her eyes. Honestly, her imagination got the best of her even still. Still coming up with impossible possibilities of what could be.

"And that, Sarah, is why we had to switch from Law, to Literature and then into _Theatre_ like we always swore we wouldn't." She muttered chidingly to herself, padding towards the bathroom.

 _'And also why we have no roommates since your crazy fantasies and reoccurring nightmares scared them all away.'_ The thought was scathing but true, and no matter how it was cut it would stay the same. It was a wonder she even had the few friends that had stuck around for so long. Even if her favourite person to spend time with was a few hundred miles away agonising over the latest game for his collection while she was here drowning in University work and half forgotten dreams. But then Sarah had never been a gregarious person as such, having mostly enjoyed her own company over others with few exceptions...

The carpet of the room gave way to the tiled mural floor of the bathroom, the mosaic slippery from it's recent gloss as Sarah passed over it towards the sink unseeingly, too distracted by her thoughts. In fact, since her first day there she hadn't really noticed any part of the decor that made up the University and gave it the reputation that had convinced her to leave her family behind a few years before. Perhaps it was the fact that the main garden boasted a large hedges maze for quiet escapes and every painting and tapestry depicted some form of implausible creature that resonated within parts of her memory. Maybe it was the way everyone walked around tossing words about meaninglessly and took so much for granted. Whatever reason it was, Sarah had turned herself off from it all and chose to live her days in a form of stubborn ignorance which tended to grate on people's nerves, even going so far to try and push for a movement to get rid of a stone statue on the 4th floor outside one of the libraries because it wasn't historical but rather... _fanciful..._ and bore no ties to their school. Stated in her claim was that it belonged somewhere as a prop for a movie perhaps and the young woman had spent a month covering it over in old dust sheets until she won. Or at least... half won. Now it stood just down the hall from the new dorm room she had been recently elected... and she had no power over it any longer.

It wasn't that it was hideous. Far from it, in fact. But it _terrified_ her. The pointed ears, the confident stance... the cold gaze that she swore followed her the entire length of the stone floored corridor. At times it seemed to have moved whenever she lost sight of it though no one else appeared to know what she was raving about and put it down to the stress of her course. He laughed at her with his fixed half smile that she claimed grew whenever she met his eye... yet again no one else saw it happen. Eventually they had stopped listening and she had stopped speaking her observations aloud to avoid a meeting with the campus shrink but still they continued to happen whenever she found herself alone. The sense of familiarity was the worst part. The battle armour and gloved hands she could forgive but the face... the face haunted her.

Shuddering, her raven hair was swept off her shoulder and the tap was turned on, a deep and tired sigh escaping her as the faucet clanged into life and slowly started trickling out water into the bowl. All from one episode her child psychiatrist had attributed to her sense of abandonment from her mum and her father taking a different wife she hadn't originally connected with- she now recognised a face of a damned stone chiseled statue. Truly ludicrous. Sarah splashed her face with the cold water collected and braced herself with a hand on either side of the sink as she dared look up at the reflection staring back at her in the mirror. The young woman blinking slowly in front of her looked exhausted... pale. Not much had changed feature wise from the time she had entered into therapy till now. She was taller, sure. She had lost much of her baby fat in recent years too, but besides the dark bags that came as an occupational hazard of University life under her eyes that was where the differences ended. Her cheekbones were as high and prominent as always making her green eyes look bigger... and it was into them she stared. Maybe she was hallucinating after all. Sleep hadn't come easy for 10 years.

"Sometimes I wish... I wish...-"

The wish were halfway out of her mouth before she flinched violently, standing straight and turning her back on the mirror as her hands rose to hold her face. What was she doing? _Wishing?!_ She wasn't a kid anymore! Hadn't she already learned words had power? To be careful what you wish for in case it came true?!

"He's at home. Toby is at home. He's safe- you imagined all of it. None of it was real!"

The words fell on deaf, stone ears since the walls surrounding her offered no comfort. Nor did any come from the light swinging slightly above her head. Groaning, she dropped her hands back to waist level, one hand holding a finger from her other hand as her eyes clenched shut. God only knew why it was in the little hours of the night when things settled upon her shoulders after all these years. At least it was a calm night. Had a storm rolled in and raged its way overhead that night, there was no doubt she would have been inconsolable. What time was it anyway? The watch her Dad had bought her routinely went missing so when she glanced at her wrist she wasn't surprised to see it gone. Though the eerie feeling that had followed her around since she'd arrived here slowly crept up her back again and she stepped out of the bathroom in an effort to elude it without glancing back. The light was switched off and the door was pulled shut behind her... and only then did she glance back at the solid oak door and nod. Mirrors... another necessary obstacle of daily life.

The campus clock sounded through the silence, announcing the arrival of the fourth hour as a door down the hall opened and closed with a slam, shaking her out of her thoughts with wide eyes. 3 hours. She had gotten a maximum of _3 hours_. Again. For the third time that week. It _wasn't fai-_

Striding through to her room again she yanked on some clothes in a hurried rush, nearly falling over into her nightstand in her haste to escape herself. A few moments later the door swung shit behind her as she exited the dormitory, pointedly choosing to go right instead of left and hurtling down the stairs with a face like thunder. Maybe a walk would do her well. Clear her thoughts. Possibly she could bother Aliannah if there was a light under her door when she passed for some company.

* * *

However... passing unnoticed behind Sarah's retreating back, a stony face smiled and arms moved, stretching and stepping in a neat leap to the side as a small gaggle of goblins tumbled out onto the hall runner. He then side hopped back again to assume his position once more with his brow quirked. Rounded faces and bulging eyes looked around the area wildly as they collected their bearings and turned to one another, hissing laughter and eerie giggling barely audible in the settling silence.

 _"She nearly said the words!"_

Suddenly the lights illuminating the corridor flickered like torches, and the goblins were gone, a single black orchid petal lying serenely where they'd been.

* * *

The ceilings were quite high even for the way the building had been erected, towering off into the near gloom with only a few sconces alluding to where they ended. Huge painted murals spanned the expanse of sanded stone depicting battles and dances alike, the pillars and carved arches lining the walls the only things separating each one as they led off into different places. And they each were blatantly ignored by the young woman who strode by underneath them. Rich red rugs gave way to deep violet, the windows spanning the walls changing from basic square to sport stained glass and Sarah found herself outside the Theater before she knew where she had been going. Instead of feeling relaxed for seeing it the feeling dwelling within her intensified to the point of nausea and she turned on her heel, pushing open the side door to the concourse and leaving through the English corridor heading for one of the common rooms.

This was mostly uncharted territory for her. Students here rarely merged with other departments outside of friendships and had no reason to be anywhere other than where their classes were. Instead of taking stock of her surroundings however she trusted her feet to carry her forward as she delved into her thoughts once more. The lights didn't automatically come on here so she was at the mercy of the clouds outside allowing the moonlight into the hall so she could see where she was going. Dust motes hung in the air in each section of pooling light filling the stretch of space with silvery but cloudy light, some swirling from an unapparent draught as she walked along the far wall careful not to disturb them. The tapestries covering the other departments were missing here, replaced by dutifully realistic portraits of past poets, authors and the like and Sarah imagined could feel their eyes following her as she passed. Coats became collars which in turn became ruffs, but the poise of them didn't begin to change until she was more than two thirds along the corridor. Faces disappeared off into the darkness ahead of her beckoning her closer with their painted stares and she followed them almost in a trance. Green eyes peered further and further into the gloom, her back bending as she leaned forward to see it better... then rather suddenly a cloud seemed to move and she wished it hadn't.

Just as her mouth opened to scream a hand came down on her shoulder and spun her, and she came face to face with a stranger looking at her like she was the most entertaining thing since Jurassic Park had come out in cinema's a few years before. The young man tilted his head, his slightly overlong hair falling into his eyes and he smiled after a moment with a show of perfect teeth.

"You seem a little lost. And not a little scared. Everything alright...?" He asked, his tone clearly amused as he stood there watching her.

His hand never moved, going so far as to squeeze her shoulder after she hadn't replied for a few seconds nor shown any inclination to. Turning to look back over her shoulder instead, the chilling sight from a minute before greeted her gaze once more. She felt more than saw him look over her head and glanced back to see him frowning as his eyes finally landed on what she was looking at. And then he laughed.

"Ohhh, you're _that_ girl; the one who caused a hue and cry over the statue on the forth floor. Sandra, isn't it? I'm Jaque. Listen, Sandra, we have so many others - not just ones like these- in this castle-slash-university. That one you're looking at is your guy's counterpart. Faculty brought it in earlier yesterday afternoon."

Jaque spun her round again to face the figure standing opposite them against the back wall, his other hand coming up to rest on her other shoulder so she couldn't move away and pressing forward so she was all but forced to take a step. Then two. Then five. And suddenly she was barely two metres away staring into the empty carved eyes of what was clearly another Fae Statue, only this time it was a woman.

"Sarah... my name is Sarah..." She finally remembered to correct him but all the same it almost felt like an introduction towards the statue than a statement towards Jaque.

"Yeah yeah, Sarah. Anyways, isn't she beautiful? In a kind of... dark way? I'm so glad I decided to study art and sculpture this year. Imagine being stuck doing maths when you could be tasked with drawing things like her, right?"

Trepidation was beginning to pool in her stomach with each passing moment that 'Jaque' held her in place, every second she was being made to look at the almost ethereal figure across from them seeming like an hour. Was it just her or... or had the woman just let out a breath? Why was she starting to feel so dizzy? Heartbeat pounding like a distant war drum and her fingers curling into her palms, the rush of blood and adrenaline finally made it to her head and she twisted away from him with a wrench of her shoulders as her common sense kicked back in. The steps that had been forced on her were retraced and she slowly shook her head at him in disbelief. _Who_ did he think he was?

"Listen here, Jack or Jaque or whatever, as nice as it is that you're passionate about your major, don't presume to randomly come up behind me in the middle of the night and put your hands on me for any reason!" Sarah snarled, her lip curling as she took another step back.

His brows shot up in something akin to shock and interest at her sudden outburst, but that only made the clamouring in her mind all that much worse. In a twisted way, her eyes were beginning to play tricks on her for he seemed to hold an almost resemblance to the statue outside her room. His white blonde hair made his pale skin look that much paler, and as her gaze burned intensely into his she noted his eyes seemed... amber. But that was impossible... _no one_ had _amber_ eyes. The heels of her hands pressed into her eyes and she hunched in on herself, stumbling to the side until her back met the wall and she slid down it. She was going mad. Plain and simple. 3 different course choices in the space of a few years had taken its toll on her for she had been working flat out to catch up and now it was manifesting in her brain to show hallucinations and to steal her sleep. He probably thought she was mad- even though he had been the weird one being overly enthusiastic about figurines in the moonlit hours instead of being in his bed.

A weak flash of light spanned the corridor like the refraction of a crystal or edge of a knife, lighting the hunched body for a moment as the air was momentarily displaced by Jaque moving. It was felt more than seen as he took his place on the floor across from her, one leg outstretched as he rested his elbow on the other and yawned languidly. Outside, the moon absconded behind another fleeting wisp of cloud and the wind picked up to stir the leaves of the hedges and trees that lined the path on the other side of the windows. One of the University's protected Hawkes had seemingly escaped it's keep to perch on one of the branches outside the window and for lack of better explanation could have been argued to be watching the pair rather intently. It's tail feathers caught the light again, sending another flash across them and finally the pressing silence was broken by the young man as he turned to look behind him at the bird and huffed a laugh.

"... _Really._ I clearly can't go anywhere, can I?" He murmured under his breath, flashing it a smile as he turned back to Sarah with a blatantly amused expression.

Her head was resting on her arms which she'd wrapped around her knees protectively so she missed the exchange, her breathing deep but irregular. A few seconds passed then a black boot reached out further to tap her shoes in a pointed manner to grab her attention... then again when it didn't get the reaction it sought. Finally after the tapping grew rather insistent Sarah's head rose again to look at him in an exasperated manner. Another smile was sent her way with a wink as his hands folded in his lap, the bird behind him now ignored.

"So... we got off on the wrong foot, I believe. I openly admit that meeting a person for the first time by turning up unexpectedly and forcing them into sculpture appreciation isn't the most intelligent move I've ever made. I'm sorry." He began, his smile reigning in to become sheepish, "Therefore, please allow me to start all over again, hm?"

He shifted slightly awkwardly, clearing his throat as he readied himself to do just as he had said.

"Hello. My name is Jaque Caomhánach, I am... 24, an Art Major and a... Sagittarius? My talents include long rants about stone figurines and statues, not sleeping for days on end and apparently scaring people."

A long moment passed where Sarah merely blinked at him and he rolled his eyes, sighing as he looked away.

 _"It's nice to meet you, Jaque!_ This is usually the part in an introduction, I believe, where you go on to introduce yourself and I get to go ' _It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance'_ , Sarah. So we're not sitting here like a pair of miserably awkward bookends."

A blush alighted to her features and she laughed, the tension in her shoulders easing only slightly as she looked up at the bird outside that had moved a little closer. For some reason she got the idea it was glaring at him.

"Ignore the bird, he's a temperamental old man who has apparently escaped and has _abandoned the post he was assigned._ "

At that the hawk gave an indignant screech and took off and he gave a satisfied sniff as if he'd achieved something he'd been attempting to do for a while. Then he looked back at her clearly expecting her to now return the greeting. But the words weren't coming as easily as they had for him. Not at all.

"Looks like you can add 'offending random birds' to your repertoire." She tried for a smile but it was slightly strained so she let it fall again. "Okay. Uh... I'm Sarah- Williams. Sarah Williams. I'm 24 also... nearly 25. I started off as a Law student, transferred to English and Literature... and now I'm in theater. I have an overactive imagination, a hatred for personified myths- like her over there- and I have no idea what I'm doing sitting in this corridor."

A deep, rumbling laugh escaped her companion and he quietly gave her a muffled round of applause as he inclined his head towards her and nodded. What that meant she couldn't begin to fathom but in that moment she could have sworn he was related to Jareth and she involuntarily she shivered at the thought. It was midterm... but maybe going home for a little while wouldn't hurt her. She needed a break from all of this, something to ground her, and no one kept her grounded these days quite like her little brother Toby. But that would mean leaving for at least a week what with the distance she had between her and her childhood home. Yet looking at Jaque... who was now looking back at her like she'd mentioned something unbelievably interesting, furrowing his brow in a frown, Sarah was convinced she needed it. Again it was him that broke the silence as he seemed to surface from his interlude of thinking and he tilted his head to the side appraisingly.

"Three entirely different majors in what I assume to be quick succession is quite a bit to bite off and chew from the sounds of things. But it sounds like you've found your niche- what with the whole 'overactive imagination' side, plus your expressions were clearly made for the stage. Though I imagine hatred for any kind of myth might make _theater_ a little difficult." He mused, moving to fold his arms as he blinked lazily.

An idea crept up on him and she could only watch as it reached his face and lit up his eyes like someone was holding a lighter behind his iris'. It was almost unsettling how his eyes seemed to be shining at her but no sooner had she blinked than it was gone. His eyes just looked slightly more alert.

"Okay so I'm just going to come out and ask this as you're already looking at me like I'm some kind of mad ghost or unicorn, can't really make that much worse huh?" Jaque asked rhetorically, sitting up straighter and leaning forward as his features turned earnest. "Help a guy out? I need a 'model' for one of my course credits in order to complete this year and so far I have _nobody_ willing to sit still for hours on end while I draw-slash-paint them and fashion my end of year project on said sketches and paintings. Basically I have to make a sculpture - _like her-_ in order to pass. Considering how little you've moved in the last half an hour or so I'm inclined to believe you'd be perfect."

A sudden incredulous laugh bubbled out of her and she began to giggle, covering her mouth as her shoulders shook and her face grew red again. Jaque instantly looked baffled by the sudden turn of events serving to make her laugh that much harder, then his expression melded into confusion as he began to laugh too.

"...What? What's so funny? I genuinely _need_ you in order to pass University, show a little compassion for the guy who scared you shitless!" He cried with a grin, white teeth glinting in the small shafts of light as his own chuckle merged with her's.

The pair ended up laughing for the next few minutes regardless while they both fought to regain their composure, nearly hysterical in face of the arguable lack of sleep. Sarah nearly keeled over to the side as she clutched helplessly at her ribs and the laughter rang out through the hall in a long echo, quite possibly waking up the occupants in the nearby dorms. Eventually however she collected herself and settled back again, looking momentarily at the ceiling.

"... I'm clearly losing my mind anyway, so sure. I see no harm in helping you pass your course, Jaque... even if you're the weirdest person I've met in a long time."

He grinned, reaching forward to hold out his hand to her to shake. "See, I just know we're going to be great friends."

Standing up, he used the hand he shook her's with to pull her up with him and then dusted himself of exaggeratedly. "Well I'm beat for the night, I hear my bed calling. It has been a _pleasure_ Miss Williams, and I'll be sure to find you when I dare to begin my portfolio with you for my future. Good night."

He gestured for her to walk ahead of him then he departed through the side door towards where the hawks were kept, leaving her in her sleep deprived state to wonder what kind of mad man she had just made a deal with.

* * *

The sun rose later that morning in a breathtaking display of gold's and pink's as it began to pour its light over the grounds. The birds began to stir invisibly in the branches of the trees around the campus, permeating the stillness of the air with their song or taking flight. As the beams rose to breach the mostly obscured windows, they found Sarah's suitcase atop her bed and her along with it, seated upon it as she fought to zip it closed. Having never lost the penchant for going ahead with her plans instead of letting them stagnate Sarah had left a message on the answering machine at home to say she was coming to stay for a week and had began packing immediately. The room looked virtually empty as it was now devoid of her clothes and personal belonging's save for her books, costumes and coursework, and as she finally succeeded in fastening her case shut she looked up at it all with a proud smile. The burgundy carpet was now glaringly threadbare from where the bed had been before being moved, added to the list of things needing done when she returned. The walls were also in a sorry state for they had never been decorated since her moving in, thus they joined the carpet on the list of things to change.

Aliannah appeared at her open doorway as she jumped off her bed and pulled down her suitcase, leaning against the door frame in her dressing gown as she took it all in with a scowl. Her cream and ivory bedspread was rucked from the previous weight so the brunette then moved into the room to straighten it out and to alert Sarah to her presence, who turned around with a small fright at the sudden movement before smiling.

"Ali! It's... why aren't you still in bed? It's not even half past six yet..."

Her friend glanced up at her pointedly as she pulled the corners taught then walked soundlessly over to the window to open it as she yawned.

"It's hard to sleep when someone is clearing out their room with their door open, Sarah. Harder when you realise it's your _best friend_ and she hasn't mentioned _once_ that she's suddenly _taking off_ before the Sun is even fully up!" Ali returned, turning with her hands on her hips as her mouth pursed displeasingly.

Her disgruntled hair only added to her air of annoyance and Sarah had the grace to look shamefaced as she grimaced, turning away to go and grab her backpack from where it hung over her bedroom mirror and vanity.

"I only decided I was going a few hours ago, I would have told you then had I thought you were awake. I just... I need..."

Ali held up a hand to cut her off then returned it to her waist. "You need a break, I know. I've been telling you this for weeks now. I just didn't expect you to take what I said on board suddenly in the little hours of the morning! Jeez Louise... you're going home right? To darling little Toby? How long are you going for?"

Sarah slung her pack over her shoulder and caught up the handle of her case as she walked over to her friend for a hug, wrapping her arms around her as Aliannah's settled around her shoulders a little reluctantly before resting her cheek on top of her head.

"I'm going for a week. Just a week... two max. Then I have to come back and help this strange guy I met last night called Jaque so he can pass his Art Major and I have a list over by my dresser of things I need to do and I have a _mountain_ of coursework to complete-"

"Shush. This Jaque person can wait. So can everything else; I'll get some help from Elijah to see if we can whittle down your load a bit while you're gone, okay? Stop stressing." Ali pulled back to hold her at arms length and rubbed despairing at Sarah's forehead. "You're going to give yourself frown lines and wrinkles before you turn thirty at this rate, woman. _Pull yourself together_. If I see you before you're ready to come back I will personally lock you out of your dorm, got it?"

Walking away toward the door finally, Sarah paused upon feeling a weight in her pocket and turned back towards the figure standing behind her against the windowsill questioningly.

"Just a little something for Toby. He's still at that Gameboy right? It's a newish game for it, heard it's really big with preteens. Albion or something."

Sarah grinned, thanking her as she finally left her room to the sound of Aliannah grumbling about being alone for a week, but as she turned the corner towards the stone statue she reached into the other pocket that seemed that much heavier and retrieved a familiar looking plastic bracelet. Then she slowly looked up at the stone fae soldier in front of her standing with his brow raised almost mockingly as she rubbed it between her fingers.

The doors swung shut and a car engine started, carrying Sarah away from the University and towards her home where hopefully things would make sense again. Hanging from her rear-view mirror was the bracelet, swinging and glinting in the pale sunlight, blocked momentarily when a hawk took flight from above her heading towards the East.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: R & R Please! If you have questions, shoot me a PM :3

* * *

' _Had fallen in love with the girl...'_

 _'Say your right words... and we'll take the child away...'_

"Toby! Can you _please_ put whatever you're doing _down_ and come into the Kitchen! We have a guest on her way!"

The words blurred as his eyes refocused from the darkened room in his mind back to his bedroom, the small red book slipped from his fingers and falling onto the carpet with a quiet _thud_. His eyes darted around him, first to his watch to check the time then to his bedside unit where, within the realm of his sock drawer, the glass ball with a snatch of striped material had been stuffed so no one else could find it. He was home. Where he was meant to be. And... It was nearly 11... no one _ever_ came over with such short notice. The boy dragged his hand down his face in a tired groan before yawning, standing from his bed finally as he heard his mother clattering around in the room below him. What a... _boring_ _book_. He glanced at it as he stepped over it towards his door, ignoring the chill that ran down his spin as he sped up and hurtled down the stairs before his mother truly lost her rag at him. His feet hit the wood of the hallway and he slowed again, his hand sliding down the last of the bannister and falling limply to his side. What kind of old man 'fell in love' with a teenage girl? It was so _weird_! Plus, duhhh, goblins didn't exist! And they definitely didn't steal children. If they did there was no way Rory would still be around to taunt him in class for they would have gotten rid of him. Special Rory, with his stupid shoes and the stupid way he talked and all the teacher's loved him... It wasn't fair.

"Oh Toby, wipe that scowl off your face! The wind will change and you'll be stuck like that, just you watch." Karen tutted, waving the dishes towel at him as she dried the last of the previous night's dinner plates and put them back inside the cabinet they had come from.

He waited until her back was turned to stick his tongue out at her then slid into the closest chair at the table and paused. There was no food in front of him. Nor was there any on the counters. Confusion set in as he sat there, eyes following his mom as she busied around the room with more tuts and sighs and quiet phrases to herself, but she never strayed anywhere near the stove.

"...Where's breakfast? Why isn't there any breakfast out?" He asked petulantly, slumping as she finally turned round to look at him looking slightly exasperated.

"I _told_ you- we have a guest on the way! And she'll be here for breakfast... well, _brunch_ at this rate- not that it should be a problem considering how long it takes you to get up in the morning. You haven't even showered!" She admonished, moving to stand with her hands on her hips while one continually lifted to gesture the towel at him. "Speaking of, I had to phone your school this morning to excuse you as you missed your alarm! Sometimes I _despair, Toby._ I don't know _what's_ gotten into you, I really don't!"

He rolled his eyes, staring at his knees under the well polished table as he waited out her rant and yawned again. Why he had to be there when the guest turned up he didn't know. It wasn't like they were coming to see him. His friends would be at school for a few hours yet... and judging by his mom's expression he was going to be forced to endure said guest until they left again without his gameboy. His scowled deepened.

She was such a _nag_! It _wasn't_ fai-

A car door slammed outside the front of the house effectively cutting his thoughts short as his eyes rose back to his mother's glumly. Doom was imminent. He could feel his freedom leaving him like a Friday night curry.

 _"Well?_ Go and answer the door like a good boy, Toby! I'll fetch your father. Lord knows he'll still be in the lounge with his paper."

His feet dragged as he left his seat behind, grumbling under his breath. It was probably just Mrs Hutch from round the corner who'd lost her cat Tibby the other week. She'd forced him to go and find him to 'make himself useful' as he'd walked past her house with his friends, standing there in her cabbage green housecoat and unruly hair as if her very life depended on it. Sarah had just laughed down the phone at him when he'd brought it up in his best suffering voice and assured him that he had probably helped her out more than he thought. Then she'd disappeared off to go do Uni stuff and he'd went back to his games.

Surprisingly, they hadn't had their phone call this week as Toby had forgotten it was his turn to phone _her,_ and it was only now as he faced death-by-boredom that he remembered. It was all because of that blonde guy with the pointy ears turning up in his dreams, scaring him half to death.

 _'Read the book, Toby.'_

The clock in the hallway suddenly chimed quarter past 11, the sound ringing out in the otherwise mostly silent house. There hadn't been much sound in the home since Sarah had packed up and left a few years ago and nothing had come to fill the hole she had left. Footsteps hurried towards the front door as Toby was urged along as if by an invisible force and suddenly it swung open before his hand could get to the handle.

 _"SARAH!"_

The raven haired woman grinned as she dropped her suitcase in the doorway, throwing her arms around her brother tightly. Her hugs had been like that as far back as he could remember, as if she was scared he would be taken away, but as he thought that a small laugh rang out from her and she pulled back to ruffle his hair. Green eyes took in the familiar decor of the hallway and the stairway as they left his face, and she stooped to pick up her trunk again as she moved further into the house to let Toby shut the door.

"Isn't it a school day, Tobe?" She asked cheekily, gesturing for him to go in front of her as she pushed her hair out of her face.

The smells were just as familiar as they filled her nose, feet carrying her past the stairs that used to be her intended path when she lived here until she got to the lounge. Leaning her head round the wood of the open door, she grinned again as she saw her Dad in the process of standing up.

"Hey Dad!"

His head shot up with a snap, eyes slightly wide in surprise before they creased in a smile and he nodded at her.

"Morning, Sarah darling. Wasn't expecting you in this neck of the woods for a while yet. Everything alright?" Robert asked lightly, setting his reading glasses atop his paper.

Toby loitered behind them for a moment, chewing the inside of his gum with a frown. Sarah seemed to freeze for a moment before she nodded enthusiastically, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Mhmm! Just felt a little homesick was all, and I had a short break to use so I thought I'd come see you. Sorry for just turning up- I phoned Karen when I was leaving and she said it was fine..." Her fingers knotted against themselves unconsciously but over her shoulder Toby saw their Dad smile sympathetically and nod yet again. Tapping the door lightly, Sarah turned, her brows jumping at him as she passed en route to the kitchen. He followed nearly on her heels then split to retake his seat, missing the glance the two women shared over his head. Food was coming, that was what was important.

"Ah, Sarah dear. Just leave that there," Karen finally said, waving a hand dismissively at the suitcase the younger woman was pulling along, "You can put it up in your room after breakfast. I hope your journey went well; you're earlier than I thought you would be."

Sarah shot a sideways look at her brother in shock as her hand slowly left the handle of her trunk, questioning what was going on as Karen was usually so nitpicky about things being left around the place. He merely shrugged and reached for the jug of orange juice now sitting in the centre of the table and she was left to take her own seat as the sounds of breakfast began to fill the kitchen.

"It was fine, there was just less traffic that usual." Was her only offered response, but the underlying edge went unnoticed as Karen busied herself and Toby immersed his face in his glass.

Robert soon appeared as the bacon hit the pan and took his own seat at the head of the table, resting his hands upon it as soon as he settled, levelling a look at Toby. The boy choked slightly mid-chug of his juice and put down his glass a little sheepishly, but the older man had already turned back to his daughter. Toby took the short reprieve to wipe his lip on his shirt and stared at his knees again.

"How is the semester going? The last time you were here you were raving about some sort of upset at the University over an art project or such. Was that resolved?"

Eggs soon followed the bacon, and the sound of the wooden spatula scrambling them against the iron pan seemed to drill right through Sarah's mind, scattering her thoughts. Maybe such a long drive on such little sleep had been a bad idea. She stifled a yawn in her sleeve.

"Oh, that. It was an 'artifact' the archaeology department found on their most recent field trip or something. But as it has no historical significance to our college nor any historical significance _at all_ really, I asked for it to be removed so we could have room for something that actually meant something. Instead they relocated it to the fourth floor where my new dormitory for the year is. And they won't move it again." Sarah's features took on a slightly haughty edge, but no sooner had it been there than the expression immediately shifted to one of blank pleasantry.

Toby tuned out. Apparently boredom was still imminent even around his sister. The conversation continued as he diverted his gaze out of the window with a heavy sigh, his thoughts wondering back to the book lying on the floor upstairs and the weird dreams he'd been having. No more cheetos before bed was his newest personal rule- quite possibly his only rule besides the fact that friends and games came before anything else like homework or girls- but he still couldn't shake the feeling of unease in him.

Where had the glass ball with the fabric inside it come from? Why had his room smelled of earth and stone when he woke up? Why had a man in trousers that were so tight it made him wince yelled at him for dreaming and for having a sister called Sarah?

 _Was_ he a man? Toby wasn't even sure. He'd been wearing make up and heeled boots for a start. And he had like... the pointiest ears he had ever seen which couldn't be normal. And fangs. Maybe he was a vampire!

Toby jumped as a bird suddenly landed on the kitchen windowsill, apparently peering in through the glass at his Dad and Sarah. The conversation halted as he looked at it, then when he looked to the side it was to see his Dad looking at it in disbelief and Sarah with a face like she'd been slapped.

Karen gave a hoot of rage. "Blasted birds! I just polished those sills and that glass an hour ago! _Argh_ \- What is a hawk doing out here anyway?!"

Robert stood, walking over the the window whilst making shooing motions with his hands. The bird merely looked at him in what could only be conveyed as a condescending manner until he then leaned forward to swing the window outwards to dislodge it. It eventually screeched and flew off a few meters to perch in a tree, and took to glaring at him balefully from up there instead.

Toby sniggered, earning him a disapproving look from Karen, but Robert merely dusted his hands off and retook his seat. Sarah seemed to shake herself out of whatever had come over her and smiled a little weakly as the plates were brought to the table, keeping her gaze mostly averted.

No one spoke as they ate other than to ask for the salt or some form of sauce, though they each glanced towards the window every few minutes until Karen finally pulled the viols over it in a huff. Then they just focused on their food until it was finished. Robert excused himself to go to his study for 'work related' things and Karen cleared the table for the washing up. Toby took the opportunity to grab Sarah's trunk and began hauling it towards the stairs so he couldn't be roped into the dishes, evoking a laugh from his sister as she traipsed after him finally after assurances that her step mother didn't need any help. But as she faced the stairs, a feeling of dread seemed to pool in her stomach, and her steps almost slowed to a halt. The feeling of the gloved hand around her throat crept up on her and her own hand lifted to the milky skin as if to ward it off.

It was just a dream. _Just a dream_. It wasn't real.

She ran up the stairs.

* * *

A few hours later found Sarah stretched out on her bed, watching Toby mess around with the things she'd left behind when she'd shot off for University. The game Aliannah had given her to give Toby still sat in her trunk with her socks, all thought of it gone from her mind as a small smile played about her face. Lancelot was tucked under her arm as her brother opened her wardrobe and started making fun off all of her dress up stuff hanging in there like he did every time she came home. Somehow it never grew old, even as he retold the same jibes as before. Her eyes alighted on each item in turn as he hauled them out, giggling as he held up a purple dress against himself with a horrified expression before discarding it, but then they skipped over the next one as if scalded.

"Hey, just leave that one. I don't know why I even still have it." She called over to him, fingers pulling lightly at the bear's fur.

The look she got was one of pure 12-year-old sass, but he listened to her, dropping the sleeve of the off white/pale green dress to focus on something else. The hair ribbons slid slightly off the hanger into view but she refused to look at them as a sour taste filled her mouth. Instead she decided to focus on the teddy she held and the Gameboy she had 'confiscated' till it passed, keeping an ear out for Toby's antics so she could make the appropriate noises in the right places. The light coming in from the window threw all of the other stuffed animals into relief as well as the odd items lining her shelves but she refused to look at them too. Or the looming piece of furniture to her left with a dust throw still on it like it had been for the past 7 years which seemed to drink the light rather than reflect it back into the room. Downstairs she could hear Karen clattering about with the duster and almost rolled her eyes before she heard her Dad say something that made her laugh, then she smiled. 10 years ago she hadn't appreciated that sound, it had nearly driven her spare. It made her incredulous to think back on now. Her Dad making Karen happy had not only angered her, it had made her want to runaway from home. And now it was one of the best sounds in her life.

The girl was pulled from her reverie with the clinking of hangers and a loud derisive snort from Toby that quickly changed into something akin to recognition. That, quite frankly, baffled her as she hadn't worn anything from the closet in nearly a decade, so she sat up in a fluid movement to see what he had gotten his hands on. Her legs crossed in front of her, Lancelot falling into her lap, and her heart turned to ice as a familiar gold waistcoat was held up before her face still sitting over the cream shirt she'd always paired it with. Pulling in a steadying breath, she forced herself to grin and shrug at his expression, but he didn't smile back.

"I remember you wearing this, but you said you haven't worn this stuff since you were a kid." Toby said accusingly, staring at the clothing in question.

She sighed, rubbing her face in a tired manner. "Because I haven't, Toby. I was 14 or something last time I wore that. You weren't even able to walk yet."

He shook his head. "Then how do I remember it?"

Narrowing her eyes at her, he pressed his nose to the fabric and inhaled deeply, expression turning suspicious and finally she burst out laughing at him.

"Toby! What on earth are you doing? Just put it back already!"

"I know that smell. It's like... like..."

"Like a park? I took you to the park in it, okay? You threw up on me, it was horrifying, so once it was washed I never wore it again. Happy?" She finally threw at him, hands thrown out to the sides placatingly. They slowly dropped back to her knees and she shook her head at him as if it was him making a big deal of it all. As if her heart hadn't started pounding enthusiastically like a mariachi band had taken up residence in her chest.

He gave in after a moment, giving a half hearted nod as he turned away to put it back on the rack, then paused. _'It smells like my room smelled. There was no grass. No trees. Just... stone. And... laughter. And someone shouting...'_

He turned around quickly and tossed it at her, grinning at her mischievously. "It's huge! Go try it on, I bet it still fits- plus if it's been in there as long as you say, you can't still be scared of a little baby sick." He challenged, brows lifting at her as he folded his arms.

Sarah scowled. "It's not going to fit."

"Try it."

"No."

" _Try it!"_

"No!"

"Why are you being such a big baby? If it doesn't fit then it doesn't fit, but at least try! _C'mon_ Sarah, it'll be _funny_!"

She glared at him, then looked down at herself. Then lifted her head in looking smug. "It won't fit over my jumper shirt. I can't."

Toby looked at her for a moment, then down at the shirt she held, then looked back at her defiantly. "Then put on the shirt too. There's no way you're too big for that as well. Mom says you were wearing a jumper from your 15th birthday the last time you were here, so you can't be."

"You sound like one of my friends. Y'know, like a _girl_? Usually girls are the ones into dress up Toby."

He just stood there looking defiantly back at her as he held her gaze, then she groaned and made a shooing motion at him.

"Fine, _fine._ I'll try them on. But not while you're in here, so out. I'll call on you when I'm changed _if_ it works." She muttered darkly, tossing the pieces to the side along with Lancelot. Brothers were insufferable sometimes.

He all but skipped out with a muffled _'Yessss!'_ and shut the door behind him, leaving her alone in the silence of what was once her realm. It almost all seemed to come crashing down on her as she finally stood from the bed, removing the waistcoat and shirt from their hanger. What had once been her world. Part of her was sure she had tossed the garments out before she left along with a few other things... yet here they were. Her heartbeat thudded against her rib cage as she stripped off her layers from the slightly chilly morning and her fingers lifted the shirt towards her.

 _'Give me the child...'_

Her arm slid into the first sleeve, the feeling all too familiar as she forced a swallow past the lump in her throat. Her hand caught slightly at the cuff but then glided past it. Her other arm followed suit into it's own sleeve and she pulled it up over her shoulder's, freeing her hair as the collar came to rest around her neck.

 _'Thirteen hours...'_

The buttons were a bit stiff from disuse but she eventually fought them into place, frustrated at the fact that the shirt still very much fit her. The waistcoat was snatched up in irritation and thrown over too, left open just like before as she stomped over to her door and flung it open.

"Toby?"

What greeted her was silence. Toby was nowhere to be seen, gone from where he'd taken up station outside her door. Downstairs, Karen and Robert were making no noise either, so the quiet seemed to deepen as she stood in the doorway of her room. Outside, the sun had disappeared behind thundery looking clouds and the wind got picked up a little to rattle around the outside of the old house, making it's interior seem that bit more gloomy with the lack of lights. Directly in front of her across the landing, Toby's room sat in darkness, his curtains still unopened from when he'd gotten up that morning.

"...Toby...?"

The clock chimed, sending an icy shiver down her spine, but she forced herself to ignore it as she crept forward.

 _'I wish the Goblins would take you away...'_

"Toby...?!"

She came to his doorway, her hand curling around the wood of the frame, peering into the darkness as if expecting to see something small... fast...

" _BOO! **"  
**  
_ A scream left her as she whirled round, eyes wide in fear, only to see Toby on the floor behind her in fits of giggles. Anger quickly replaced the fear and she bent down to smack his shoulder with a small yell of frustration then she stepped over him towards the stairs.

"You are such an _ass!_ "

The boy wiped at his eyes as tears of mirth spilled down his face, moving slowly after her as he continued to laugh.

"You should have seen your _face,_ sis. It was hilarious."

She stuck her tongue out at him and peered out the hallway window as her hand rested on the banister, scowl still in evidence until it molded into confusion. "...Where's the car?"

"Oh, Mum and Dad went out for a bit. Apparently Dad has this super important meeting with some guy that he needs Mum to go with him to, so it's just us. They told me to tell you that it might be just us for dinner but they left money for pizza." He looked out over her shoulder and shrugged, running down the stairs as he called over his shoulder, "Told you they would still fit! You look cool!"

Rolling her eyes, she started down the stairs then paused. Walking backwards back up to the landing, her eyes traveled back to what was once Karen and her Dad's room, the room that was now Toby's. The darkness seemed to call to her, egging her on as she began to walk towards it, and yet again she found herself poised at the entry not a moment later. Everything had changed, besides the large french windows that Toby always kept covered with his curtains. The four poster was now downstairs in the expansion Robert had commissioned to be built as soon as Toby had begun to walk, where Karen and his bedroom was now situated. Pressing a hand to her forehead, she let out a laugh at how ridiculous she had just been and turned to leave, halting yet again as something caught her eye from the floor.

 _The_ red leather, golden embossed book that had caused it all.

But what was it doing... in here?

Sarah turned on her heel, taking the stairs two at a time in her haste to confront her brother. Behind her, unnoticed yet again, a glowing rectangle of light lit up her room from beneath its dust cover... then faded to let the dark rush back in to claim the space it had taken.

* * *

"Wanna go to the park? I bet Merlin would love it-"

"Why was this on your floor, Toby? Were you in my room again?"

The adolescent's eyes dropped to the book and he looked ceiling-ward, groaning as he walked away from her. "Oh, that thing. It is _so_ boring! I don't get how you liked it so much."

Sarah slid it into her back pocket on reflex, her shirt falling to cover it as her hands threw up in front of her. "Not the point! Answer me- or am I going to have to speak to Dad about getting a lock put on my room to stop you taking things out of it?" She snapped, folding her arms this time as she stood with her hip slightly to the side.

He shot her a puzzled look, Gameboy in his hand going ignored as he chanced a look around them. "You left the stuff in there because Mom wouldn't put it out, not because you still wanted it. What's the big deal?"

"Because it's junk! Stupid junk I'll probably have to put out myself, as Karen won't. You've never been bothered by any of it before, so why now? What's got you reading "The Labyrinth"? You've never liked fairytales!"

Toby's lip stuck a bit as he jutted his chin out defiantly, refusing to meet her eye. "Felt like it. That's the story you used to read to me, I wanted to know what the story was as you never finished it. Mum said it gave you nightmares." He looked at her back pocket where the outline of the book was shown under her shirt then finally looked at her. "Don't see why, Jareth isn't scary. Just weird. He 'fell in love' with a teenage-"

" _Don't say his name!"_

His mouth dropped open in shock as she all but shouted at him, then shut quickly as he stepped away from her. "Why not? Why are you yelling- you never yell at me, Sarah. What's so bad about this boring book?"

Sarah spun away from him, stalking towards the front door for Merlin's lead before remembering he didn't need one. He never had. Forcing herself to remain calm, she walked back into the room and came to a stop in front of him with a helpless look. "I'm sorry, okay? It's been a stressful day and I haven't slept much this week due to exams. That book... It was an unhealthy obsession that spiraled out of control due to my overactive imagination. I don't like talking about it."

The clock chimed again, tolling four o'clock, and she looked over her shoulder quickly before turning back to him. "Let's... let's just go walk Merlin, okay? When we get back, if you're so interested, we'll talk about the book and order pizza. Fair?"

The boy shrugged, pulling his jumper from the back of the settee where he'd hidden it from his Mother's cleaning. "Can we talk about it while we're out, then play games when we get back? I want to know who Jareth _is_."

Her stomach gave a sickening lurch, but she nodded. "... Fine. We can talk about J.. about Jareth and everything else at the park. I have a game from Ali to give you when we get back anyway."

"Aw sweet!" Toby sat on the edge of the couch to pull on his shoes, accidentally knocking the newspaper onto the floor. "...Oops. Hey look, apparently there's been an unusual spike in the amount of weird birds around here. Owls and everything... hey, do you think that's why that hawk was there during breakfast?"

Sarah scoffed, heading towards the garage. "Who knows, it's just a bird."

"I guess. It's not like they're people!"

Merlin all but bodily knocked her over as she opened the door to the garage and she laughed, leading the 15 year old dog back through the house as she did her best to ignore Toby's statement. The walk to the park was uneventful, owl and hawk-less, though she subconsciously kept an eye out for either _just in case_ as Toby ran in front with the dog. Catching her reflection as they passed a line of parked cars, she barely restrained the urge to go back to the house and change as she realised she'd forgotten to take the waistcoat and such off before heading out. Oh what larks, to have siblings like Toby. She felt about his age, again. Hell, she almost _looked_ about his age again. Karen and her Dad were going to have a field day when they got back and saw her.

A puff of glitter fell as she walked across the street into the park, but before it hit the asphalt it contorted and grew until it became pair of yellowed, bulging eyes sat under one of the cars, fixed to her retreating back. Then with a wheezing laugh, the goblin scurried off back the way the pair and dog come with a few others appearing to join it.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Onto what you're probably waiting on, now!  
Lylabeth- If you see this, I love your reviews and would love to discuss your questions if you can PM me?  
Also, apologies for missing American terms. I'm Scottish!

* * *

A hoarse yell filled the room, the pounding of fists thrumming against solid wood... the desperate wheeze of a man struggling for a breath that his throat denies him. The roar of blood thrumming through his mind...

"You see, Xavior, wine is supposed to be sipped. Not quaffed like a cheap ale and then _inhaled_."

The captain of the guard looked up at the amused faces surrounding him at the vast table, bleary eyes laden with unspilled tears caused by his violent choking as a ripple of laughter rose. Waving them away with a choice gesture, his gauntleted hands unclenched from where they had been repeatedly hitting off the solid oak and flattened as he forced himself to relax. Jareth sat grinning like a cat across from him, his own leather-bound hand still curled around the crystal glass filled with an almost black liquid where Xavior's glasses lay in splintered smithereens somewhere off to the side. Even as he managed to suck in a true breath, a servant appeared to clear up the still singing remains, unacknowledged by the rest of the room's inhabitants.

"Hilarious..." He rasped, forcibly clearing his now raw throat to stave off any further choking, "... you... neglected to mention... how _spicy_ it is... when it was discussed, friend."

The blonde merely lifted a shoulder, eyes trained intently on him as he drained the last of his own drink and carefully set the goblet down again.

"You are out of practice. If I recall precisely, I never got a chance to mention _anything_ that day for you were too preoccupied with tellings of a certain... lady."

The rest of the guard erupted in catcalls and peals of laughter, Xaviour himself allowing a weak smile, but it died down as the great doors at the far left of the hall swung open. Another servant appeared to replace the fallen glass and to decant more of the mysterious beverage into it and Jareth's now empty one, but were quickly dismissed by a gloved hand as they all turned in their seats to watch the procession of the person striding towards them. Jareth's fingers lay on either side of the crystal stem as his mismatched gaze focused intently on the shaggy head of the young Fae all but running towards them, tapping so lightly that the hum his fingertips caused was almost indiscernible. Within seconds, the boy made it to the end of their table and swung himself forward in a bow, nearly smacking his head off of the far end where the pitcher had been place.

Someone sniggered and he blushed, but didn't straighten until Xavior sighed and set the glass that was halfway to his mouth back to the table.

"That was a near miss, Cleary. I nearly winced," The Captain adressed him wearily, rubbing at his temple, "Stand. State your business. You are in the prescence of a King, so mind your manners."

Cleary straightenedd as if attached to a drawbridge, swallowing thickly as his eyes immediately fell on said King then danced away to stare straight at the brick wall in front of him. Jareth looked away disinterested, eyes now trained on the rich burgundy in his hand as the sun coming in from the arched window above them bounced off of a Guard's discarded helm into the crystal. A frigidly cold air had swept in alongside Cleary and as he began to speak he felt in settle onto the bare skin of his forearms where his sleeves had ridden up. It was early morning, barely broken 6 o'clock, and he had been up most of the night with his friends. It had been a welcome change from the solitary space he had flown in from although not originally welcomed. It was strange to sit with those he had trained with. Fought with. Grown up with. For he was now superior to them in rank and responsibilities... due to a _mistake_...

"... prescence once the Queen breaks her fast, in the West Wing. King J-Jareth is requested to arrive in manner befitting his rank, fitted in casual regalia. Er... and the High King asks unofficially that he leave his," Cleary broke off, wincing as his eyes scanned over the last sentence again, "...His 'little whip' behind in his quarters for it shall not be required."

The men broke out in raucous yells and laughter yet again, clapping the blonde monarch on the back with enough force that he was pushed forward and nearly spilled his drink. Xavior let out a loud 'HAA' as he all but fell off his bench in drunken mirth and Cleary all but tried to run away in a flurry of startled movements.

Jareth let out a single quiet chuckle, rising from his seat. The others quickly fell silent yet again, save for the Captain who really had fallen at this point and hadn't seen anything besides the rows of boots under the benches, and looked up at him as he gracefully stepped from the table and walked around it towards the young messenger.

"Acknowledged- Cleary, is it?"

The goblet changed into a Crystal sphere and he shot him a grin as placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Prudent for me not to keep our lady waiting, then. Our Queen is an early riser and will have arrived far earlier than agreed, as always."

The sphere was thrown and he disappeared, leaving a small shower of gold glitter in his place.

* * *

The Halls of Aurea was mostly made from Crystal, one of the main reasons why Terauramulis had gotten it's name. Cleverly crafted so the occupants could see outside with stunning clarity, but outsider's could not see in. A Palace of candour, of light, as those who held it in such rapture viewed it. Indeed even the reigning Monarch's swore to uphold such beliefs and faiths, but Jareth saw it in rather a different perspective. It was a place of lies, that spoke of freedom but gave none, that was stained with blood so deeply that the stone was lying with being so pale. Where others saw peace and tranquility he saw schemes and arguments, for he had witnessed the latter and not the former growing up. His heels echoed through the bright halls as he cast a faint shadow into the wall to his right, his eyes ignoring the sprawling view of the city to his left, for he had no interest in it. What would the view give him, except pain? What would distractions from what lay ahead do in aid of him, when staving off the inevitable brought more tension?

Sarah would have liked it here. He could almost imagine her walking these halls in front of him, challenging him with eyes that were almost too green-

 _'Silence! She is but a drain on my resources, a thorn in my side that buries itself ever deeper. To think on her is to bleed for her, and she has no need for such attention. Nor do I.'_

His pace picked up, the markings of his race that framed his eyes shimmering in the light like glittering sand. He was Fae. He had a duty to his people and to himself. He had a world that had no room for mortals to acquiesce his efforts unto now for he had procrastinated for too long. His realm was dying, and only he could save it. To save it was to save himself. A King could not betray and sacrifice so many thousands of lives for the sake of one that had broken him.

He had survived, these past years. It was now time to live once more. A wave of a gloved hand saw his open shirt and untucked breeches shift into his usual attire- save for the leather jerkin- and the pendant he never took off was stowed within the confines and out of view.

The doors to the Queen's Quarters appeared in front of him and he veered right, away from the transparent walls that called to the rebellious part of him. As he arrived at the West Wing, he didn't hesitate before sliding in through the doors soundlessly, never allowing for a pause that could allow him to turn back. A singular feather fell from him as the door swung shut and drifted back up the corridor on the breeze the door had caused.

"Jareth! Look at you; I had heard that you were up to all hours drinking, again. I see now that such tales cannot be true for you aren't wavering where you stand... like last time."

He looked around at where his Aunt Yennifer stood off to the side, looking slightly anxious though he rather imagined that was mostly due to excitement. Every other time she had managed to lure him in here for this purpose he had found a way to evade her. But this time he had come to her of his own violition. This time he was the instigator. Time was up.

The deep mauve of her dress brought out the colours of her eyes as she beamed at him and somehow he managed to hold her gaze for a hairsbreadth longer than usual before looking off to the side. Somehow she was always pleased to see him. Even after everything that had transpired in the past. It hurt worse than the scorn that should have radiated from her in place of her smiles.

"... My Uncle speaks of the women you seem to have hand picked for my betrothal. Do I have the luxury of speaking to them first or do you propose I choose one out of a line up?"

The question was out without much thought, his tone edged, but his Aunt merely frowned at him with apparent disappointment.

"This business with mortals... it has begun to make you crass, dear nephew. My husband exaggerates; I have but two in mind," She walked across the carpet in front of him, stopping him from the pacing he hadn't realised he had been doing as she sighed, "But unfortunately only one of them deigned to show up. Lady Aislinn LeTrommluí, of the Isle of Nocte. Her Mother was a Ward of the Northern Plains that Baran now governs. Your... mother... assures me that Aislinn will be to your liking."

One of the Queen's hands hurried in front of them to get the door as they headed for the antechamber in which the Lady was waiting for them, but Yennifer hung back after a few steps to allow Jareth to lead the way. The feeling that rose in him was once more quashed so the sensation of numbness swept in to fill it's void, ridding thoughts and judgements from his mind before they formed. His and his Kingdom's future was on the other side of that door. As if a bird on a wing, he swept into the room to claim it.

The door swung shut behind him with a faint click, sealing the pair in with a note of finality. Yennifer hadn't elected to follow him inside.

The wall on the far side of the room was made up of floor-to-ceiling latticed windows that drank most of the light filtering in, leaving where he entered darker than the end stood opposite. Silhouetted in front of them was the aforementioned Lady of Nocte, adorned in a silk and velvet gown of spun silver and lilac. She didn't turn as he moved further into the room, her gaze calmly continuing to roam the scenery laid out before her. The dimmed sunlight graced her pale skin and high cheekbones giving her the appearance of an ethereal glow, turning her pinned tresses into a rich gold. Trademark features of one from the Northern Plains, if not for her stature. That spoke of the city in which they currently stood, potentially belying her lineage. His Aunt had spoken of the Isle's, which fell under the Northern Plains sector, but something about her appearance didn't fit entirely within that blanket term. Where the Northern Fae had wider hips for child bearing due to their higher rate of fertility, Aislinn was slight. Petite. Her hands spoke of letter writing, not equestrianism, which was a second clue.

As one... she was beautiful. Stunningly so.

Where Sarah was dark, she was light. Refreshing, with a beauty like a snowy landscape with clear skies.

Jareth's mind didn't acknowledge the comparison as he crossed more than half the room. He was enthralled like he hadn't been in decades. He was-

"The clouds almost look like a lake, from this altitude. Serene... but with a dangerous beauty that almost tricks the mind into thinking they might spill over and encompass the homes that stand before them," She finally said, cutting through the haze he was in with an almost melodic voice, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Jareth."

She turned, and Jareth found himself pinned in place by a pair of violet eyes as she pulled them from Terauramulis to fix on him, and then smiled. Something tugged at him, almost as if a hook had ensnared his navel, and without conscious thought he closed the distance between them until he was but a foot away and then bowed. Once straightened again, a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth and he fought to remove his gaze from her to focus on the gardens outside.

"The pleasure is mine, Aislinn. Never have I witnessed such beauty."

Again the numb feeling rose to swallow anything else that tried to raise it's head, though this time it felt that perhaps it had a helping hand from elsewhere. The lady's commentary of the Breach was similar to his own view, and he pushed that to the back of his mind to peruse later instead.

 _'Jareth'_

He froze, eyes flicking about him quickly as Aislinn laughed lightly into the back of her hand, ducking her head in trained modesty. He saw no one and nothing, though a chill ghosted down the skin of his neck like a lover's breath. It felt... familiar. Too familiar. Yet... he had ever heard it spoken by the one it threatened to remind him of...

"You flatter me, my liege."

His eyes snapped back to her, pulling him forcibly back into the present. Why he was in such turmoil on this morn escaped him. There was no reason for him to be so distracted. The matter he was here originally for was being dealt with. Soon... soon he would be free of them forever. Both of them.

"Perchance the tales of your night aren't as false as your Aunt believes?" She continued, stepping towards and then past him with an amused expression, "I tire of this room. Would you accompany me for a walk? I haven't had the leisure to explore Aurea as I had wished."

"It would be an honour, my lady."

She smiled at him again, slipping an arm through his and looking expectant for him to lead them. He did so, placing a gloved hand over where her bare hand rested as he walked them out a side door so they wouldn't have to address his Aunt once more. Their footsteps echoed quietly in the otherwise unfurnished hall as they crossed it, but he made sure the door shut soundlessly behind them so they wouldn't be followed by any remaining sober members of the Guard as they emerged in a small corridor.

It was one of Aurea's main junctions, where a myriad of wings met for ease of... silent, subtle exits. Not many knew about it as the doors were never immediately obvious, but Jareth had long since explored the secrets that the Palace of the Council held. In fact, other than his Uncle and his Father, he was the only other living Fae who knew of the connecting corridor from Aurea to the White Spire. Such knowledge would be catastrophic if known by the general public. If touched... the consequences...

The fact that he even knew in the first place was an accident that had cost him so much. Jareth turned away from that memory, his hand tightening slightly on the other Fae's as he led her through the door directly adjacent and then down a large flight of spiralling stairs. Here, the light was cast by summoned orbs that floated around in the otherwise empty air. The tapestries lining the walls were thrown into relief for moments before the orbs passed, watched raptly by Aislinn as they descended.

"This place... it holds so much history. So much to be marvelled at. Terauramulis must hold our world's most skilled weavers." She commented, her voice carrying in the stairwell.

Jareth spared the objects of her attention a scarce look and swallowed a scoff before looking ahead of him again. They spoke of how Terauramulis had come to be, of the original Fae who had taken the desolate landscape and made it thrive. Where other continents spoke of lush landscapes of rolling grass, trees, nature... Terauramulis had been hewn out of stone. It was the excessive crystal deposits that made the founders settle here, using it to commemorate their future Capital City. The White Spire had been discovered rather than made, thus it's sacred status. A naturally occurring obselisk, the only landmark for hundreds of miles. It was imbued with magic that called to all Fae to a certain degree, without any input from the dwellers. Everywhere else the crystal structures were in various shades of colour as they had been found, reds and blues... greens... but the White Spire was the only crystal that was so pure and untainted that it made everything else pale in comparison. Second to it was Aurea, but there were veins if quartz running through the outer walls that set it apart.

The history had once interested Jareth a great deal. But now that he was a part of it, it had lost its intrigue as he lost his desire to learn more. For those not of the city, like Aislinn, he imagined it might have been breath-taking to see the wall sized murals. For him it was just another picture to break the monotony of the wall beneath and aid in trapping heat within the otherwise cool Palace.

They reached the base of the staircase quicker than Aislinn anticipated, and she frowned at him as he led them through a large archway.

"You're not a man of many words, Jareth, I have come to find."

"I speak when I have something to say, my lady."

"And my presence merits nought?" She countered, looking away from him pointedly, "Do you imagine to find a companion through staunch silence and long walks?"

Jareth clenched his jaw, slowing his pace. "Marriage is for duty to my Kingdom and my line. It is an arrangement of business, not of love or companionship. Forgive me in finding little to offer for conversation." He replied tightly. His crop slid a little in the back of his boot, making a faint sound against the leather, but neither commented on it.

"Yet your Aunt assures me you have much to say in the right company, and that your heart is laden with the love you have to offer but have been denied in the past."

"My past is not up for discussion, I will thank you to remember that," He glanced down at her, lips thinning in his displeasure, "You were raised and counselled in the Northern Plains. I find it hard to believe that you know not that most Fae couplings are borne of responsibility. Whether affection follows depends on the pair. It is not always so."

"Evidently."

Silence fell as they picked up their pace again. Jareth was admittedly on edge from how quickly things had turned sour, but he refused to admit that he could be the one in the wrong. His parents had wed out of duty. His Uncle and Aunt had done the same. He had always known, deep down, that he would follow suit. Even if once he had been momentarily blinded by hope, he had learned the harsh truth of how their world worked. Marriage wasn't all that common an act, but it was the highest form of allegiance and most surefire way to ensure an heir.

Trust his Aunt to find him the one female who would endeavour to fight an agreement she had walked into of her own accord, due to not fully understanding the stakes first. There was little and less to be said of it really at this point. If he didn't marry, he would lose his place in the council and in Terauramulis, would be severing ties with the surrounding Kingdoms. He would be a self titled King only but would have to fend for his land alone. To spend an eternity alone.

"You may not entrust in love, in there being anything more to... to this marriage than the practicals. But I am not you, and I hold my own ideals. And I believe that given time you may just come round to see things from my point of view. I am a patient woman, Jareth. I _will_ wait for as long as it takes." Aislinn suddenly interjected, her voice shaking slightly as if she were warring with herself. Potentially out of disbelief at having the gall to speak to him as she was, but nevertheless.

Her eyes were shining brightly as she slowly raised them to his face, a strained swallow forcing itself down as she dared to raise her chin. The willpower it must have taken to gather the courage to speak out was evident, and he could not hold her gaze as a pang of guilt flashed through him at causing her any distress. This would be as difficult a transition for her as much as him.

"... I apologise for my words. This course of events is such that I have been avoiding for centuries. To live alongside another is an alien concept. My Kingdom is an isolated land." He tried to inject some tone of humour to his words but only succeeded in speaking softly, gentler than he might have liked even with a love one of his family.

She nodded stiffly, lowering her gaze again and looking in front of them. "Now, perhaps, is not the time for such discussions. We have much of this place yet to explore and I know not a thing about you save for your name, your land and your status. Besides, if this atmosphere of hostility does not ease I fear I will tire of your company prematurely."

"Then come; the royal gardens begin outside the next wing. The cool air will make the rest of this walk that much more bearable."

* * *

As the pair exited into the gardens, now engrossed in conversation, two pairs of eyes watched solemnly as they passed below their place on the balcony above. Something was said and the lady laughed, placing a hand on the King's chest as she did. The two figures could only look on critically as he grinned down at her instead of removing her hand, escorting her further into the gardens and away from prying eyes such as theirs, then turned to the sky as a raven swept towards them. Whoever the Princess- not _Lady_ , as their Queen had been falsely informed- was, she was apparently wrapping Jareth round her finger faster than any other female they had witnessed him encounter before.

Not quite as fast as tales they'd _heard_ but such tales were _banned_ in Aurea. Indeed, a certain name could earn you a sentence in the Blackreach, 10 miles south of the border. Too many had learned such a lesson the hard way, thus making an example to those who remained.

The raven alighted upon the stone parapet between them in a short flap of wings, earning itself a set of twin amused grins aimed its way. A bright flash of light had them covering their eyes with muffled curses, and when they looked back it was to see Jaque perching on the railing where the bird had been, bouncing on the balls of his black, suede boots. Wearing his own wicked smile with mischievous eyes, he ensconced himself in place crossing his legs and then looked out over the grounds in a picture of bliss. The wind blew past to his his cheeks as it pushed his locks away from his face and pointed ears and he leaned precariously into it as the pair shook their heads.

"I assume you come bearing news? There can be no other reason for you to abandon your post far earlier than ordered without express permission," One addressed him gruffly, the braids in his peppered hair glinting in the light where it caught their fastenings, "And I can assure you we have received no such letter. _"_

"Leave him, Baran. Let him get his breath back before you start demanding things." Arlyn interrupted, mirth still sparkling in his eyes as he settled back against the wall. His head tilted as he took in the scene of Jaque sitting so serenely and had to fight the urge to give him a playful shove off the other side.

Jaque's head turned and he shot them both an endearing smirk, his hands toying with the lip of his boots. "So gracious, as always," He murnured, eyes finally spying Jareth through the trees as he led the Princess towards the water garden, "I do have news. Almost. _She_ has gone home so my position is null and void until she comes _back_ to the University, see? So I came home too. Gets the old man off my back."

Baran snorted but Arlyn lifted a hand to silence him. "As long as he doesn't stray from his position and keeps her protected, your absence will go unnoted. But there is something else, isn't there?"

He nodded. "Considering that school is lying on the border between our realms, it's not surprising to see other Fae there. However what does one do when there's one of... nobility, hanging around close to the target?"

"Nobil..." Baran swore, lifting a hand to his mouth as he turned his back on them. Arlyn similarly balked but kept his ground as Jaque watched them both lazily. "But not one of ours?"

A flash of pointed teeth and the young one shook his head, pulling off his gloves to admire his fingers. "Oh no, definitely not. I have graced the presence of nearly every female in our court during the solstices for a dance. This one was not among them."

The brunet shook his head as Baran stepped forward again, as if adamant to grasp the straw that would lead them to answers. Over the warm air the sound of tinkling laughter lifted to them, and as one they all turned to look in the direction it came from. Laughter in Jareth's company... how... odd.

"Do we have a na-"

"There's more, dear cousin."

Baran's jaw shut with a click and Jaque spun to face them, his long, graceful legs draping over onto the balcony as he rested his hands on either side of him.

"She is having nightmares, again. Not just dreams of our world but of things... impossible things she can't know. Of things that haven't come to pass. Her thoughts scream of them and cloud her eyes. She has grown to fear us."

"You jest, surely. Her place is here, it is..."

Arlyn's brows rose as Baran trailed off, his fierce brow furrowing in a thoughtful frown as he looked between them both.

"Our ancestors, who gave up immorality as you recall in order to keep watch of the doorways into... well, our world? They spark a terrified but fierce ire in her on site. She had Heilyn moved from the main foyer after trying to have him _removed completely._ Seems to imagine that he's been moving yet I have it on good authority than no ones been using the network. So, the claims weren't taken seriously, naturally, but now he is posted at the end of her dormitory corridor to keep watch over her which has made things worse," Jaque rolled his eyes, adjusting the sleeves of his shirt with a scoff, "The Dean knows _nothing_ , of Sarah or us, but it's only a matter of time. Two nights ago I had to intervene when our lovely mortal decided to venture into the English and Literature department and all but screamed the place to its knees upon seeing Alastrine for the first time."

The drunken guard passed behind them, oblivious of the trio outside the wide doors as they carried Xavior between them towards the keep. They fell silent until they passed, Jaque leaning up to try and peer over the older men's shoulders with blatant curiosity.

"What in Albion-"

"Ignore them. Jareth introduced our Captain to Gregaiovic Wine this morning."

"Excellent! I knew our friend hadn't lost his sense of humour completely- even if he keeps it shut up tighter than his a-"

" _You were saying_ , Caomhánach."

The youth grinned, settling back again. He would investigate later, it would seem.

"I can see why Jareth liked her so much, she's so... _fiesty_." He began again, much to the elder Fae's annoyance as he let a delicious shudder pass over him with a delighted look, "I had to do some quick improvisation too as dear old Choilleach left his post to come and spy on me. So now I have to focus an art project around precious little Snow White in the hopes that I can influence her judgement on us and get her to forget the hawk that so clearly was staring at her through a window. Otherwise i rather imagine the Autumn Solstice dance will go over as well as Baran's attempts to woo Lady Nareene at our last Harvest gathering."

That earned him another glare but he merely shrugged in response.

"...Eanraig should be notified." Arlyn finally said, rubbing at his beard distractedly.

"And bring his unbridled wrath down upon us? Did you not hear what I just said? _I made contact,_ Arlyn. Eanraig just wants her kept an eye on."

"So you would have us lie, when he calls for a report? The fae _cannot_ lie or have you taken leave of your senses?"

The three of them looked away from each other to various parts of the grounds or Aurea, the very real problem hanging between them.

"Twist the truth. She made contact, I allowed it for sake of saving our hides. So long as nothing else goes wrong we should be fine."

Baran was the first to make the move to leave, the fur of his overcoat shoftong further up his neck. "If we only knew what the endgame was, we could plan accordingly. What is the fate of the mortal, where does her destiny lie?"

Arlyn nodded, looking back to the open skies overhead. "We may never know. For now I will take my leave; and Jaque? Try and stay out of trouble?"

His layered clothes wrapped over him from head to toe, twisting smaller until a bird appeared and took flight, leaving the pair behind.

"He always to get in the last word, doesn't he."

Baran walked over, grabbing Jaque by the shoulder firmly and leading him away back into the halls with his usual scowl in place. They walked in silence, using the shortcuts to the base level to ensure anyone waylaying them and finally they turned out of the grand arched doors located at the back of the council to nip through the gardens to the Upper District beyond. They had separate business to attend to now, Baran had to get back to his own Kingdom in the North, but his lack of trust in the young Fae he still clutched meant he was intent to accompany him to where he needed to go. Lavanya deserved to know what was going on since she had a hand in the mortal's fate, and Jaque had a way with the older women of the District that meant he was always welcome come good or bad news. For Jareth could not know. But his Mother must.

As they rounded the platitude for the Wind garden, they suddenly came to a halt as Jareth stepped out into their path. Alone. The Princess was nowhere to be seen. His heeled boots clicked as he stalked into the center of the path, a faint smile lifting his features. All the same, Jaque took an unconscious step back until his boots nearly hit Baran's and did his best to look as innocent as possible.

"Jareth! Haven't seen you in a dogs age. I heard you were entertaining the Princess of Nocte, so I was going to postpone a conversation until later this evening. Everything peaceful in paradise?"

The blue and brown gaze fixed on him and he grinned back on reflex, tugging back on his gloves with what he hoped was subtle haste. The expression on the other's face didn't change save for the smile growing slightly in a slightly dark manner and even Baran cleared his throat.

"It appears I was misinformed of her title, but no matter. The betrothal will be announced 3 days from now, on Lendas. Can i expect to see you both there?"

"So soon, your highness? Usually you're far more particular about such matches. I never took you as ome for blondes." Baran replied nonchalantly, finally releasing the youth to fold his arms. The gaze was lifted to his own of granite, the smile freezing in place, but underneath his well groomed beard his own mouth twitched downwards in response.

"My affairs are my own I believe. The match has been set, agreed upon, and as we speak her father is being notified," His eyes finally dropped, looking around them as if in a slight daze, "What intrigues _me_ is how I see neither hide nor tail of either of you and then I come across you together. I wasn't aware you two were even acquainted. Let alone so acquainted that even Arlyn joined you."

A slightly tense silence fell till only the colourful birds that inhabited the grounds could be heard in tune with the rushing water coming from nearby. The sun was full, signalling noon, and Baran stepped to the side so it no longer inhibited his vision a she kept his eyes locked on the blonde in front of him.

"Business as usual, nothing exciting." He replied, gruff voice making his words sound harder than they were. Jareth merely inclined his head though his expression said anything except that he believed them.

"I see."

"I'll probably be back at the Academy in 3 days time, I regret to say." Jaque finally said quietly, forcing the words out through sheer nerves. It struck him as odd how worried he grew in the other Fae's presence when he was acting as he was when usually Jareth was one of his favourite people. The reason he had stepped into the string pulling when Eanraig had called for volunteers. Jareth looked at him again and sighed through his nose... but merely nodded again instesd of replying.

They took their leave and he was left to walk the path back to Aurea alone, his only company bwing his thoughts and the wildlife that occupied the space he walked. Already his thoughts had left that of the pair he had spoken to, sliding back to the one who's side he'd been at all morning. Then away as confusion filled him at the feeling that sparked from said thoughts, turning them back to the main reason he was here.

From irritation of her... so quickly changing to... what? Endearment? Ridiculous.

Was this what his Mother had spoke of in his childhood? The sensation upon meeting your mate?

Utterly preposterous.

His mind fogged again and he wavered, turning sharply to rest upon a bench nearby as he pressed his hands to his temples. No sooner had it come than it was gone again, leaving him yet more lost. A part of him rose its hackles but the larger part hushed it back into the dark. No one was wresting his mind from him, it was just the wine taking its toll. He was fine. He stood again, taking a moment to make sure he was steady, then he set off for his chambers to ready himself for dinner later that night. He would hate to humiliate himself in front of Aislinn by turning up unprepared.

The sounds of the grounds settled bac in as his footsteps finally faded away, and an obnoxious sneeze emitted from under the bench he had vacated. _"... Smell... bad? "_

 _"Kingy ill!"_

"Kingy fine!"

"He's forgetting..." The leader rasped, red eyes wide as his head poked out. The others turned to the goblin anxiously, pressing in tighter as a bird swept past. Behind them, a startled yell sounded as another goblin fell from where it had been attempting to mountaineer for a better view and they turned around to give it a disgusted look

"F-forgetting wut?"

They turned again, peering out from the stone panel of the bench's supports.

"About Sawah. About himself."

Choking laughter erupted from them, then they started shoving each other in the hilarity until the leader hissed at them.

"We must get back to da castle."

He hopped out, waiting momentarily on the others.

"Breeeek, we are leaving! Shtap yoor moaning and get up!"

"Put that bush back!"

" _Hurry_ , someone's _coming!"_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Long time no see! Hope you enjoyed the festive period and valentine's day (if you celebrate either) :3

* * *

The radio sounded too loud and out of place as they sat facing each other in the lounge, neither willing to break the heavy silence that had fallen like an ill fitting blanket. A glass of water clinked against teeth, then was returned to the table untouched. The other stirred, blinking for the first time in minutes, but refused to lift their gaze. The atmosphere was tense enough to smother but eventually Sarah coughed into her hand and set her green eyes on Toby with a frown.

"The weatherman didn't even _imply_ that there was going to be a storm tonight, let alone that there would be that last one from when I got here. This is the _second_ storm in _two weeks_! How did he not see this coming?"

Toby shrugged, staring at the candles laid out on the coffee table between them. The flames were unnaturally steady contrasted against the sound of the wind howling outside and the rain battering off the windows and cars yet his eyes... wouldn't move. Couldn't move. Gooseflesh had erupted on both of his arms and the back of his neck yet he couldn't bring himself to tell his sister that he was scared of the dark.

Or rather, the gloom. Which was darker than the dark because there was light to cast yet more shadow. He could almost believe there was someone or something watching them. Which obviously wasn't real. Sarah would have noticed too. His mum did insist he was usually oblivious to his surroundings. His hand moved to pick up his gameboy but he stopped himself and scowled. He couldn't see the screen in the dark. Albion would have to wait.

Across from him, Sarah sat curled up on the armchair with a cushion clutched to her chest and tucked just under her chin. In the orange light she looked eerily different than usual. Paler. Sleeker. Her eyes looking even larger as they stared imploringly at the top of his skull. A sigh left her and the glass was lifted again, resting against her top lip a moment before she finally took a sip.

"I'm sure Dad and Karen would have been back by now if things weren't bad. But he did say when he called that the roads were being closed and they'd probably have to stay at a hotel for the night. I can't be that bad to hang out with alone, can I? Just for one night?"

The blonde head finally lifted and he shook his head, trying to smile. Sometimes it really struck him how different they looked to each other. They had the same nose and chin... but his eyes were blue where Sarah's were green. Her hair almost black where his was blonde. It didn't bother him, really. But it was a bit weird to see it so starkly in the dim light.

"No... I'm sorry."

"What for? Sitting in the lounge in the near-dark because I couldn't find more candles is hardly the most exciting thing in the world. I thought Karen had more of these..."

Her fingers reached out and played with the naked flames a little but stopped after seeing her brother wince.

"I'll go see if there are more in the kitchen, okay? Otherwise I'm going to have to use her special guest candles that no one is allowed to touch and tomorrow we'll have to dash out to find more to replace them before she finds out."

That at last brought a true smile to his features and Toby nodded enthusiastically, leaping up to head for the china cabinet in the corner. They were easy to find even without the little light given from behind him. Pure white pillar candles with silver filigree and royal blue ribbons tied to their bases stood proud in their designated spot, framed by crystal dancer figurines, but the boy didn't even glance at the latter as he yanked them out and returned to the couch. He listened to the sounds of the cupboards opening and shutting through the house and a few metallic clanks for a while then finally his sister reappeared holding a couple tealights which she set on the table. They both looked at the box, then at each other.

The living room became a haze of welcoming warmth and light with the tall candles placed strategically in the corners and around the room, the smell of toasting marshmallows filling the air. Under the couch, hidden from view, four miniature piles of rags finally moved. They were clever, waiting for the rustle of the packets overhead or the wind to reach a screeching pitch to talk to each other so their whispers couldn't be discerned.

"It flared again last night."  
"Surprised? She returned."  
"But she hides from it!"  
"She hides from herself, too."  
"But she can't! She's-"  
"Shhh!"

Toby burped noisily, covering up the trailing sound of the goblins concealed beneath him and looked over at the red leather book that sat on the corner of the coffee table. Following his gaze, Sarah rolled her eyes shot him him a look.

"Did you take that with you to the park? I told you to leave it alone, Tobes."

"I did leave it alone! I thought you brought it in here!"

They stared at each other then looked away, Sarah pulling her newly darkened mallow from her fork to peer at it for a moment. Merlin lifted his head from the other end of the couch to look at her but his lip-smacking went ignored and he slowly lowered it again back to his paws.

"Besides, you never told me all that much about it anyway. You were too busy playing with Merlin." He finally added, stuffing his own sweet into his mouth.

"There's not much to tell. It's just another mythical-"

Four pairs of eyes rose steadily.

"- childish-"

They looked at each other.

"-far fetched-"

The leader made to get up, a look of abject offense and hurt on his face but the purple goblin beside him rested a hand on his back and he lowered again.

"-Fairytale, about a spoiled girl, a self-entitled and overrated faery King, a maze and a horde of the ugliest creatures imagineable. And a misjudged toddler who didn't do anything wrong."

A collective, horrified gasp left the small group at her words but they froze as she paused and seemed to listen out for them. Then when she returned to rooting for another sweet one of them burst into tears and vanished, leaving the other three to settle down again. The leader's eyes filled with suspicion but he stayed quiet. He looked down at the tiny square of parchment he'd stolen from their leige in case the need of silent orders arose and shook his head. He knew he'd forgotten something. Only Jug knew how to write, but none of them knew how to _read_.

"I had a dream about it; there was some angry blonde dude who threatened to kill me for trespassing or something."

Sarah's head shot up and she dropped her fork, swearing loudly as she burnt her hand on the candle's flame and snatched it back to nurse it.

"Ha... you're funny. Damn that _hurt._ " She peered at it, but couldn't see anything definitive in the weird light so she dropped it into her lap to ignore the pain.

"I'm serious! He was really scary to start with and there was this really weird wall behind him and behind _that_ there was this _huge_ cast-"

"I'm sure it was all really very cool, Tobes. But it was a dream. And dreams aren't real. And blonde men trying to kill you for trespassing _do not exist_."

"I think it was Jareth," he shrugged, looking back at the book musingly, "In the book it said about a sharp pendant and this guy was wearing a sharp pendant. And trousers that didn't fit him. I keep forgetting bits that happened."

"It _wasn't_ Him, I can assure you. And the trousers are meant to be like that, Toby, they're jodhpurs- or at least, the Fae equivalent," Sarah insisted with a frown, "...Or something like that. I don't know."

"...It also said he had a riding crop. Does he have horses?"

"No."

"Then why would he have a riding crop and jodhpurs?"

" _I don't know_ , okay? It's just a book. It's not like I've m-met him..."

Toby puffed out his chest slightly. "I'm going to ask him if I have a dream like that again. Because it's weird to have a whip and too-tight trousers if you don't have a horse."

"You do that."

They returned to their snacks, thinking of hot chocolate and how long the storm was going to last outside. It wasn't long before the silence was broken again.

"So how does he get to places if he doesn't have a horse? Does he have a car?"

Sarah looked skyward, "He can turn into an owl. Plus, he's magic. Apparently. Or so the book says."

"That's _awesome!_ Man, he sounds so cool. I wonder why they haven't made this into a movie yet."

"I hope they never do. My imagination was bad enough... can you imagine the amount of people who would try to wish each other away? The amount of people dressing up as the girl, as the King, on Halloween? Besides, they'd get the casting wrong."

"You could play the girl! You've read that book like a zillion times-"

"I have my hands full with Uni, and I have no interest in it anymore. Maybe fourteen year old me would have dived at the chance but I've grown up a lot since then."

She glanced at her watch and yawned, her eyes widening.

"I can't believe it's one o'clock-"

Footsteps sounded on path outside and they both froze, Sarah's voice dying in her throat as her head slowly turned to look at the front door. The steps were heavy and deliberate, a confident stride that made their father sound like he tiptoed when he came home. For a moment neither of them moved, almost to scared to breathe lest the newcomer hear them. Then she moved, grabbing her brother and shoving him towards the kitchen with frantic speed as the steps came to a halt finally and a tense quiet permeated through the house. Toby's feet tangled up in themselves and he barely caught himself before he fell, his socks sliding on the polished wood of the floor. The clock hadn't chimed its hour. Yanking open the door to the pantry, she shoved him in and stopped, noticing that both of them wouldn't fit. Karen had moved the washer in there since the last time she had visited. There was only room for one.

"Toby I need you to stay here, okay? Be quiet, really quiet. I'm going to go see who it is. If you hear anything, lock the door and hide in the washing basket. Don't come near the door."

He shook his head, trying to duck under her arm, but she stepped in his way and pushed him back.

"But what if you-"

"Don't worry about me! Just... just stay here! Look, take Merlin as well before he decides to remember he's a dog and finds his bark."

Toby sat and pulled him mostly onto his lap, looking up glumly at her. Sarah shut the door.

When the knock came, she was already halfway up the hallway towards it, creeping next to the wall in case it suddenly opened and the visitor made a quick entrance. Of all the nights for this to happen, it was when her Dad and Karen were out. It was almost ironic. No lights, alone with Toby...

The knock came again.

Peering through the peephole, she saw a burly, broad-shouldered man with barely blonde hair on the other side looking a little uncomfortable. His hair was tied back off his surly face and coveredthe tops of his ears, and he wore multiple jumpers and coats and strange trousers that tucked into knee high boots. As if sensing her, he turned from surveying the street to look right at the spyglass and took a half step closer.

"...Hello. I am sorry to have to turn up at your home at such a late hour and in inclemmant weather. I need medical assistance."

Sarah backed up slightly, biting her lip. His voice matched his expression which she realised _did_ seem a little pained. "Why don't you go to the hospital then?"

There was a pause. "...There is no power and the phone lines are down, and as you might see, there are no drivers out. It is for my hand."

 _'If you believe that you'll believe anything. Do not look. Step away from the door."_

Her feet moved towards the door even as she turned to leave, stretching onto the balls so she could see out again. Her gaze settled on his hand- or at least, the blood that covered it and obscured where it stemmed from- and she automatically unlocked stepped back and unlocked the door. As she swung it open however she nearly panicked, bracing for the worst... only for the man to carefully step over the threshold and gently close it behind him.

Then he turned to face her again, holding his wrist to his chest to stop anything dripping onto the carpet as he waited for further instruction. Steely eyes flicked to the lounge as she started backing up towards the kitchen and frowned as he took in the magnitude of candle light filtering out into the hall.

"It looks like a shrine in your... front room."

"We don't have any emergency lighting or torches."

"Having them so close to your seating area and curtains is a fire hazard, Miss Williams."

She halted, whirling round to look at him, "How the hell do you know my name?!"

"The surname is on the door, on a small plaque."

She nodded, then sped up her steps until she reached the kitchen where the last of Karen's candles were burning merrily. She barely glanced at the pantry door as she moved past the table towards the connecting bathroom. Behind her the man paused, but she didn't as she barrelled throughto find some bandages and cleaning alcohol. She heard a chair scraping against the floor after a moment and the sound of someone heavy settling into it, then a murmur in a language she wasn't familiar with. That at least explained a lot; if he wasn't from America then he wasn't necessarily going to know how close he has just come to being shot. Assuming her Dad still owned a gun.

When she returned it was to find him staring down at his hand broodingly.

"Your brother can come out of the larder with his dog; I wish neither of you harm."

Yet again a cold feeling ran through her, but as she openwd her mouth he held up his free hand and shook his head.

"I'm a... bodyguard. I am trained in deduction. It smells like dog, there is a boy's jacket in your front room and the best place to hide is that cupboard. But I assure you, you are all quite safe. Once my hand has been seen to I will take my leave, you have my word."

The door opened with a faint click and Merlin came bounding out, straight for the strange man sitting at their table. Sniffing around his knees, he then sat and rested his head on the man's knee looking up at him, his tail thumping the ground. Toby stepped out a second later, looking at his sister, but his attention soon turned back to the imposing figure.

"Wh-who are you?"

The man grunted slightly. "It's long and difficult to say. You can call me Lachlan."

"Lachlan? How is that long and difficult?" Toby asked childishly, slipping into a chair across from him.

Sarah dumped the bandages and alcohol in front of 'Lachlan' and grabbed a towel from under the sink and a basin to fill with hot water.

"The longer version is Choilleach. My parents were traditionalists."

He looked around him, his gaze sliding back towards the door and towards the living room. He knew there were a few of Jareth's subjects in there yet apparently neither of the Williams' kids had noticed. Yet he knew Jareth hadn't authorised any goblin to come into the human world- excluding for runners- for ten years. In fact... he had banned them from doing so. Why would they be so willing to evoke the younger Fae's wrath? If there was anything he knew about Jareth... it was that he was far from forgiving.

He was also one of the most devious Fae he had ever encountered and was an exceptionally good ruler. There had been a reason he had chosen to serve his Father instead of him. It had been proven long in the past that those too close to the youngling either wound up dead or exiled.

Eventually the raven haired girl sat beside him and motioned for him to roll up his sleeves so she could assess the damage. He cursed himself for his improvidence, his carelessness with the weather and the situation he now found himself in. His orders were to observe and report. This was a zero contact mission. Jaque had already screwed his end up and now... now so had Choilleach. It was only a matter of time until Sarah realised who- or what- she had invited into her home.

He peered at his hand as she peeled away the layers from the wound, the boy leering at him from across the table as he tried to get a better look. He would have used magic if it hadn't been for the sentinels he had clocked around the back of the house who would have sensed his signature a hundred miles off. He knew not who they were, only that they weren't on Eanraig's entrusted payroll and that he had never trained with their kind. Likely from the Wastelands to the West of Terauramulis but that really was just assumption at this point. Yet... yet making contact might actually turn out to put more of them in danger depending on who it was watching the house. So long as neither of the trio made any sudden movements or noise there should be no problems.

He nearly broke that self appointed rule the minute the wet cloth touched the raw wound of his wrist and hand. Hissing through clenched teeth, he kept his lips curled over to hide his pointed incisors and shut his eyes. He'd ruined a wing trying to grip onto that branch of the Williams' tree at their front porch and finally it had snapped inwards and ripped into him. There was still wood embedded within the flesh and he pulled a candle closer to him from the center of the table to help Jareth's girl see what she was doing with more clarity.

Or rather... not Jareth's girl. He had forsaken her just like she had tried to forget about him. If his Mother's words were to be heeded, the boy was betrothed once more to a Princess from the Isles. His skin prickled at the thought yet he could say nothing. Do nothing.

"Can I ask how this happened, Lachlan?" She looked up at him quickly then back down at the tasl before her, holding his overlarge hand in both of hers and tipping it towards the light, "Tobes, get me the tweezers from the cabinet in the bathroom, please?"

He waited until the boy had left and frowned, trying to come up with something feasible. Fae couldn't lie... but they could bend the truth almost in half. "I had an unfortunate accident with a branch of a neighbours tree; I got caught on it as I tried to walk around it and the branch broke as I was... moving it."

"Bit dangerous to be out right now, isn't it?" She pushed.

"My business is my own, Miss Williams. I will say simply that I had little choice."

The tweezers arrived, and they spent the next half an hour in silence as she finished removing the last of the wood, cleaned out the wound and dressed it. But they didn't ask him to leave once they had finished. Toby found him fascinating and continued to badger him with questions while Sarah did her best to make up some sandwiches in the darkness; nearly setting fire to the kitchen a few times when she knocked the candle she was using to see by.

Eventually she procured a plate filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a jar of pickles which Choilleach managed to open with little to no effort, and the three of them tucked in. Marshmallows weren't as filling as Toby had once thought.

Soon talk turned to Choilleach's line of work and Sarah's courses at University while the storm continued to rage outside. It picked up a little to bring in lightning and rumbling thunder that rivalled the depth of their guest's laugh, making him less scary than he had originally seemed. Toby was still sure he could murder either one of them in under a second and neither one would see it coming. He couldn't wait to tell his friends when he went back to school.

"So who would you say was one of your hardest charges?"

Choillech swallowed the last of his glass of water and frowned, his heavy brow making his face all that more serious yet again. "A youth name Ja-... Jake. Dark haired, mischievous... can't follow a simple set of instructions even if his life depends on it."

Sarah nodded, subtly motioning at Toby and rolling her eyes. "I can only imagine."

"My old charge was almost a guardian of him- very important man, married to one of the most beautiful women most have clapped eyes on- and _his_ son, _Jare_ -...d," catching himself yet again he tried not to smile at how either Fae would react to their new nicknames, "Sorry- Jared is almost worst. He's not childish persay and he doesn't go out of his way to put himself in danger... but he's so headstrong that he could ram heads with a bull and likely win. He does what he wants, goes where he wants... but he is a borne leader. Could become the.. mayor... of our... town... if he really wanted it. His father would have been proud of him."

"Just like Toby has the brains to ace all of his classes when he goes off to high school but he barely has the drive to change his socks every morning."

"Like that, I suppose... yes."

Toby stuck his tongue out and got up, heading back through the house towards his gameboy and the couch. Sarah watched him leave with a melancholy smile then sighed, checking her watch again. Four o'clock in the morning.

"From the way you talk it sounds like Jared's father isn't around anymore."

"He isn't," his voice sounded quieter than before, but Sarah merely leaned forward.

"Divorce?"

"Death. There was a... work related accident. Happened when Jared was a teenager- not much older than Toby. Give four years or so."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was a long time ago."

The words hung for a moment but Sarah decided to change the subjecy instead of letting it stew.

"Jared and Jake sound like a handful at any rate. I can only imagine what it must be like to know them. Never a boring day, I would guess?"

Choilleach watched her for a long moment and nodded, rubbing at his bare chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps you do know them, but by a different name. There are young men like them all over this planet. The trick is not letting them go when you _do_ find them as they are the fiercest and most loyal of friends. Making an enemy of them is to sign a warrant of death. To love them... well, I suspect that would pertain to the individual and to _you_ , should you ever find yourself with such a person."

Sarah shrugged, clearly not reading into his words as he'd have hoped. "I haven't had much luck with men. I always seem to ruin things before they even start going anywhere so even if I _have_ met a Jared or a Jake I doubt I'll ever know..." her voice trailed of a little, sounding quiet and empty even to her own ears, "I did meet a Jaque at Uni the other week. Maybe he'll be my fierce and loyal friend, hm?"

"I'd count on it; trust your gut. It never steers you wrong."

"I thought the expression was trust your _heart_ , Choil- Lachlan."

A faint grin rose to his eyes and he tapped the table top before standing up. "Matters of the heart are for your heart. All else is for your gut for instinct and your mind for the rest. When the time comes to listen to your heart then you will know."

"That's very philosophical of you."

"Apparently blood loss and all-nighter's make me poetic."

"Well, it's made our night all that much easier. Is there anything else I can get you before you go?"

He shook his head, leading the way back up the hallway towards the front door. A quick glance into the front room showed Toby reading a small red book with fervent attention so he left him to it instead of calling a greeting. Sarah didn't look, her expression already smoothing into polite interest. Whatever walls the human girl carried with her, they were steadily building themselves once more.

"Here I take my leave. I thank you yet again for helping me, Miss Williams."

"Sarah; Call me Sarah. You gave us your real name, after all."

Something flashed in his eyes but before she could look closer it was gone and the door was open. Stetching her hand out at the last minute, she made for a polite goodbye and waited for him to notice it as he surveyed the carnage outside the house. When he finally did turn around she finally noticed he had been wearing gloves the entire time- or at least, his not mangled hand had been- but as she watched on he plucked it off in order to meet it.

Doubt flashed through her as he hesitated. She hadn't touched his actual skin yet even when helping him... she'd used a towel and leaned on his clothes. Why it suddenly bothered her she couldn't rightly say. Then his hand met her's and he shook it, once, smartly and shortly before unclasping where his fingers had reached up her wrist and he turned to walk down the path again as dawn started to approach. A faint tingling started in her fingers but she put it down to the rain now hitting off her skin. Her fingers reached up slowly to trace her neck, her thoughts sliding away from the rain to fixate on the dream that had brought her here. Brought her _home_. Yet hadn't she just told Toby earlier that evening that a dream was _just_ a dream?

Once he had disappeared from view she shut the door and walked back into the living room in time to see Toby sound asleep, the red book now gone from its place on the coffee table.

Further down the street Choilleach paused and stepped beneath a shop's overhang to peer at his healthy hand; his glove hanging momentarily ignored from where it dangled from his fingers. Leaning it into the light, his eyes widened... then he shifted into a hawk and swooped up and into the sky. It was time for a shift change anyway... and it was time he had a long overdue chat with Eanraig. Why had no one picked up on it before now?

Sarah retook her seat in her Dad's armchair after blowing out the last of the candles and curled with the cushion again, her gaze lingering on the peaceful expression on her brother's face as the slight smoke from the extinguished wicks spiralled and hung in a low cloud around the room. In some respects nothing had changed when he fell asleep in the last ten years. He looked angelic. Innocent. Which he was. He _really_ was. Turning onto her side, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on sleep, hoping it wouldn't elude her now as it always did at college. It was her job to protect him from the horrors out there. Even if she could have potentially subjected him to one tonight before Lachlan had turned out so harmless; she wasn't going to forget the mess of his hand and arm in a hurry.

This business with bringing up the stress of her teenage years, stress with college, lack of sleep and sudden strangers entering her life... it always seemed to be that no sooner did her life even out and calm down that yet another calamity came along to... well... _fuck it up._

She'd find a way to deal... she always did.

Once she fell asleep, the last of the visitors extracted themselves from beneath Toby, giggling and hissing as they wriggled free of the sofa's supports and came to stand by the doorway. The smoke from the candles descended to mask them and they turned to go jumping and swinging up the stairs gleefully, yet nothing else in the house stirred. They bypassed Toby's room, the bathroom... and slid through into Sarah's. The mirror glowed again as one held the cloth up so they could get under, then they jumped through.

For a moment the glass stayed shining, then it dimmed to show an ugly dwarf's face looking hopefully at it from a little distance away. By the time he ran up to, it the doorway has closed, and was once more reflecting Sarah's room and the dust sheet.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: It's been a while! I'd just like to say that I don't have a beta reader, so I really am sorry for any mistakes! I do my best to get them all but the length of these chapters means I miss a few :3

This is a shorter chapter than the rest, but I will try and update sooner to make up for it!

* * *

 _There was a sensation of falling, though it was a subtle one. As if the air was pushing up to stop him from falling too fast... but not with enough force to stop him completely. He felt weightless._

 _His head lifted and his eyes opened from where they had clenched shut, blinking a few times, and as they focused he was able to take in the place that he was falling to. Disjointed, distant music was playing but it was faint, struggling to reach his ears. Walls were steadily rising up to greet him, walls covered in ivy and unfamiliar plants which seemed to become more and more broken and aged the closer he got. The sun was hanging low and swollen along the horizon within a blanket of wispy clouds, giving the appearance that everywhere was made from a shade of orange or gold. And in that moment he realised that he knew this place as well as he knew his bedroom._

 _Opening his mouth to scream as the ground rushed up to meet him, the sound was stolen from his throat... and his world turned black._

* * *

Jareth's head lifted from where it had been bowed over his Uncle's desk, scrawling his elaborate signature in jet black ink across multiple parchments. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, ears straining to hear _something_ out of place, yet... they found nothing and his gaze returned to his task at hand. Scattering some pounce over the sheets, he lifted them and watched the fine sand-like particles slide onto the desk. Tapping them neatly into a pile he then pulled a length of cobalt ribbon towards him and looped it over the sheaf with deft hands, pouring a small puddle of gold wax onto the crux and pressing his family ring into it. It was monotonous. It was repetitive. It was what he had been doing all evening since retiring within the walls of Aurea to rest. A tired sigh left him and he pressed his lips together in a line, dropping the newest pile onto the looming one on the other side of the desk.

For a moment he had almost imagined himself being pulled back to his home, to his Kingdom. By what or whom he couldn't say... but he could almost have sworn to it. Could almost taste the dry, dusty air of his castle... smell the tumbling stones of his Labyrinth.

Finally, he was done. Casting a flippant look at the towering stack of paper, he navigated around the corner of the desk and dismissed it, tossing a crystal over his shoulder which enveloped the stack and disappeared with the sound of a bubble popping.

When he was to deal with papers he preferred to be in his own domain, acting in his own time and by his own bidding. Not in another's study, not from someone else's time, and not because he had been instructed to do so by someone else. It had long since been said that the Goblin King had always had a problem with authority, but then _that_ was why he was the ruler of the realm he held. None else could have taken the forsaken land and brought it into being a place worthy of time and respect like he had. No one else had ever conquered the willful and often _spiteful_ creatures that were goblins like he had managed to, and none had ever done so while holding their respect, love and fear.

But it had seemed at times impossible, especially when he had first taken the post- or at least, been forced into doing so. Meant as a punishment, intended to show him his place, it had become his biggest learning curve and his greatest legacy. He had hated it, _loathed_ it and its occupants. It had been the place where he was supposed to become forgotten, lost. It had been colourless, orderless and chaotic, everything that he had been brought up to hate. And in the beginning it had indeed appeared that he had met his match and that he _would_ perish there without ever hearing from or seeing another Fae. Left to die alone with only the land's wretched dwellers for company. A poetic end to the life he had lived and the choices he had consequently made.

Doors opened and swung shut in his wake, corridors merging into one another and sliding past. Black heeled boots echoed softly against the stone, the only sound in the otherwise silent palace besides his breathing.

Aislinn had left that afternoon instead of returning to her quarters and he found that he had been relieved to hear the news instead of annoyed. It was as if a weight he hadn't known to be there had lifted and in its absence he had clarity. She was very strange, even by standards typically set by Isle dwellers, yet once again he found that he didn't have an explanation as to why. Why he had went from scathing about her presence to fond. Why he had agreed to the betrothal when he had been set upon declining. All he had were questions but no idea of how to voice them. His skin felt a little alien to him, crawling slightly, though he tried to shake the feeling. Torches passed, blowing out with each one he left behind so only his path was illuminated. Smoke swirled up from the blackened wood posts to intwine in the darkness behind him. But all he could focus on was how at odds he suddenly felt even though he was in such familiar territory.

Arriving at his rooms, he paused with his hand on the handles of the great carved doors and frowned, nostrils flaring a little as he thought things over. Then his hands retracted and he turned to walk down the adjacent hall instead.

Yennifer had claimed there were two choices for his betrothed, yet one hadn't shown. Such a thing was unheard of. To ignore a summons from Terauramulis was the very act of giving up your title and your lands, and that didn't sit right with him either.

* * *

 _When his eyes opened again, it was to find that he had been running. Whether to or from something, he couldn't tell, only that his feet were telling him to keep going. Blue eyes searched fervently for someone who could tell him what was going on but he saw no one. Heard nothing. Only the sound of his pounding footsteps as he took off again through the maze looking for the way out. Someone was yelling somewhere far off but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Why did they sound so upset? Did he know them?_

 _His head turned from looking over his shoulder as he tripped, just in time to see a flash of white and blue disappear around a corner ahead of him. "Hello?" the words bounced off the crumbling brick and disappeared, leaving him to growl in frustration and begin picking up his pace to catch up with whoever it had been. At the next junction he saw them again and he paused, taking in the long almost-black hair that quickly whipped out of sight as the other runner chose to go left, and he followed, calling out to them again._

 _As he got to where they'd been, he turned to look behind him and started in shock. The colour was fading from where they'd come. The plants were dying. Something resembling a worm but with bright blue hair and a red scarf fell from the bricks tp the ground and stayed there, curling in on itself. But as he tried to turn back to see if it was alright he felt a pair of hands grab him by the shoulders and turn him round again, willing him on. The voice sounded again and this time he could have sworn he had heard his name._

 _"...TOBY?"_

* * *

The inside of his Uncle and Aunt's shared chambers was a vast contrast from Jareth's own, and he was surprised it hadn't changed from when his parents had had the rooms. Everything was still in shades of ivory with a few slight flashes of colour spotted around, though it was clear that personal touches like the family crest was gone. As was the painting of Terauramulis above the mantle, which had been replaced with a portrait of the two residents now living there. Eanraig was absent though it was clear the older Fae had left only moments before as his Aunt still stood by his high-backed chair staring at the door he'd departed through when Jareth knocked and stepped in.

She stirred, breathing in deeply as she turned her head and met his gaze with her own tired one.

"Ahh, Jareth darling... I wasn't expecting to see you so late. Please excuse your Uncle... some business has just come up that he has to take care of," she greeted him, a delicate hand gesturing toward the door before she clasped it within the other. Her eyes roamed over his features as if seeing him for the first time that day and he noted that the corner of her mouth dipped as she masked a frown, "He will return soon, so as always you are welcome to wait here for him if it's important..."

"Actually, I was hoping to catch a minute of your time instead, if I may."

She nodded and finally smiled, although it was small compared to the ones he usually received from her. Picking up her skirts slightly, she drifted past him in a soft wave of violets and headed into the next room where the Queen's personal study was. He followed her through, jaw tightening as he felt the pull from earlier again, and settled into the chair across from the couch she chose to perch on. For a moment nothing but silence reigned as they both turned to look into the fireplace and for the first time in his life Jareth was concerned to find that the atmosphere was a little tense, if not slightly awkward. Would he have given for his Uncle to return to interrupt things if only to break up the mood.

"It's the matter of my betrothal to Princess Aislinn LeTrommluí," he finally said, "I have a few questions."

"...Princess?" His Aunt asked distantly, still staring into the flames, "I had been led to believe she was a Lady, rather than of royalty. Pardon my naivety."

Jareth frowned, "It isn't like you to make a mistake like that. Admittedly, I find myself a little questioning over how it came to pass."

She pulled a face, blinking finally and looking to him for the barest of seconds before her gaze started sliding away again, "I cannot rightly say. My herald must have gotten it wrong... I will have Xavior question him on the morrow."

"Something is bothering you, dear Aunt. I would know what it is."

Finally, Yennifer sighed and splayed her long, elegant fingers across her lap. Her fingernails dug slightly into the velvet of her gown and she bit her lip, taking her time in choosing her words. It took some time, enough that Jareth began to wonder whether or not she would deign to answer- or if she had even heard him- but eventually her small lips parted and she paused again for a moment before she spoke.

"It is the matter of your other match who failed to show this morn. Lady Deirdre, also from the Isles..." she said softly, her expression shuttering. Her fingers knotted and smoothed and she looked up at him with glistening eyes, "You see, we are not the first to notice her absence. I sent word to her father after you left but it... it would... it seems that..." she took in a breath, looking away again as if searching the very walls for an answer. Jareth's gaze narrowed once more, taking in the quivering bottom lip, and he leaned forwards in his chair to encourage her to continue.

"...Jareth, no one has seen or heard from the Lady Deirdre in _days_!" The Fae suddenly cried, hands springing free of the cloth to splay in the air between them, "She has apparently vanished from the face of Albion! Gone! She left the same day I sent word of potentially making a match with the two of you to come here but her carriage has since disappeared without a trace! We fear the worst has befallen her and her travelling party."

The blonde reclined in his seat, gloved hand covering his mouth and chin as he thought it over. "You believe that she is dead."

His Aunt flinched violently but nodded, a hand lifting to hold the side of her face.

"Has a search party been assembled?" he pressed.

"They left an hour ago to join with her father's men. They are confident that they'll have some form of an answer within the next 13."

"Perhaps I could contact a few people too. But first I will need some details... What does she look like?"

The fear on his Aunt's face changed to something a little guilty, and she dropped her gaze to her knee. "I know, dear, I know..." eyes shot towards the door as if she expected Eanraig to appear and stop her, then they flicked back to meet his own, "...Now, I don't want you growing upset with me over this-"

" _What_ does she _look_ like, Aunt Yennifer."

The Queen stood, stepping away a little so part of her fell in the shadow of the dimly lit room. The guilt, now contrasted by the dark behind her and the light dancing out from the fire's flames inm front, became more pronounced... and soon a sense of dread began to form and settle in his stomach.

"Tell me you _didn't_ try-"

"I was willing to try _anything_ , Jareth! So I went with what I knew! Dark hair, pale skin, bright blue eyes and a strong sense of tenacity-"

" _Green!_ They were _green_! I can't _believe_ I am hearing this! From _you_ of all people, who should have _known_ -"

"Known _what,_ Jareth?!" she snapped, turning to him finally with wide eyes, "You have dismissed every _single_ match I have made for you because you always compared them to that... that _mortal_ who ran your damned maze and stole away with your heart in the process! What was I to do? I already found her polar opposite in Aislinn, yet _somehow_ I get the feeling you're about to renege on that one too!"

Jareth rose finally in a silent, fluid motion and curled his lip in a snarl. "I came here to tell you that I had accepted her to become my future wife. My only concern was the well being of the one you mentioned that didn't turn up. Now? Now I am glad not to have met her, though I still wish her to be in fair health. _That mortal_ , as you so eloquently put it, now remains in my past. I have let her go. Because my Kingdom depends on it and apparently so does my place here in this city. She has no place in my heart! _She has no power over me!"_

* * *

 _The walls trembled suddenly, a booming clap of thunder sounding overhead. Dust rose as stone and plant suddenly fell around him and he had to run in a zigzag pattern just to prevent any of it from hitting his mark. The wind picked up and was pushing against him to inhibit his progress, bringing smells to his senses that he knew he shouldn't recognise but did nonetheless. The girl had stopped up ahead, shoulders heaving as her hands rose to her hair. She wasn't much older than him he realised, three years max if that at all. And somehow nothing was hitting her while she stood there. Though the wind tore at her hair and ripped at her clothes she stood there unmoved, though after a moment he noticed she was pulling things from her hair. Silver vines and leaves, a coil, gems. And she was throwing them at her feet where they smashed like crystals, each one shrieking in a way that set his teeth on edge._

"No... _No_..."

 _Then she raised her face to the sky as the first of the raindrops fell and splashed upon her skin, and she fell to her knees. The ground around her crumbled as if the very earth was crying and he could hear snatches of apology to nothing yet_ everything _leaving her. Her hands pulled at the ground she rested on as it began to shake more fervently and he started forward again in haste as he saw cracks and fissures begin to form around her, with her in the center. He tried to yell to her as the ground split but if there was any noise the gale stole it, and he could only watch as the dirt around the fissures crumbled and fell, and the ground supporting her swiftly dropped and took her with it._

* * *

The flight was perilous by day, but by night it became a thing of death to even attempt. Still, an owl launched itself from the highest steps of Aurea in the sole objective of doing just that, braving the merciless terrain hidden below the serene sea of cloud to journey South. There was a strange feeling that spurred him on, not of anger or of joy. It was like the silence granted after wishing for the noise to cease, when the noise was necessary to keep you grounded. It was like the success achieved after trying hard to gain something that you knew was never supposed to be within your grasp. It felt wrong. But it was right. It didn't fit, yet it had a place. And he knew that he couldn't take back what had caused it for he of all people knew that words held power, and what was said... was said.

He hadn't meant it.

He could hear his thoughts mocking him as his wings beat harder to gain purchase against the stormy winds swooping in to meet him and waylay his progress, trying to drive him back to where he had departed. _Oh, he hadn't? Then why did he say it?_

Because it had needed to be said. Because it was time to let her go and move on, just like she had done of him. Because he should have done it years ago before he had let himself get to this point where he hadn't believed he'd wanted saved anymore.

 _"You have always lived with your heart rather than your mind, regardless of what you'd rather have us all believe. These games of yours have harmed more than they have helped. Words hold power over us all, of this we are all sure, yet you chose to teach that to a human girl who hadn't the capacity to hear what you told her. And look where it has left you."_

Broken. Scarred. Cynical and scathing. Lost.

 _"You are not a child anymore, Jareth. No longer a young man stumbling his way to success through sheer brute force and sharp cunning, with the inability to take no as an answer. Your orders are not challenges now nor have they ever been. You have a duty to this council whether you choose to accept that or not."_

Yet wasn't that what had always fueled him these past few years? Spite, borne of ignoring his superiors to find the same achievement by his own means by whichever road he so desired? He was so used to being alone now. How was he to find his place among the many instead of the few?

 _"I hope you will come to see things are they really are, and soon. We can't sit here and watch you throw your existence way any longer. Your mother can no more bear to see her son wasting away on the idea of a girl that was never his, to watch his kingdom die alongside him with each passing day. If not for yourself, do it for her. Do it for the memory of your father. Lest you squander the last of what you have on a dream, and give up on living entirely."_

Yennifer had shown him out with a monarch's mask, unable to meet his gaze and see the warring desolation now residing there. The anger that was bleeding out of him and leaving behind a weariness that made him wonder if his wings would truly manage to take him home.

 _Home_. The desolate wasteland that had once been his nightmare was now his paradise and his haven, in a true tale of irony. It had shaped him into who he now was. A figure of success and respect. Foreboding and intimidating, yet alluring and mysterious.

He'd grown into his looks in the last few centuries so he was no longer the lanky youth he once was, and his features and markings were now far more striking and handsome. Yet he was still lithe, and a vast contrast of his Uncle, who was broadset and stocky. He took pride in how he looked in an almost lazy fashion. Knowing that he no longer had to work for his looks... they were there, and were present even when he was lazing in his throne.

And for all of that... he now found that he no longer cared.

What were appearances, when he hadn't courted in a millenia? He was set to marry, and it was for his title and his duties, rather than for love. That chance had been taken from him- No... He had readily given it away on a gamble of a thousand lifetimes, pinning it all on a single human girl. The biggest challenge he had ever faced. Because she had been everything he had been warned against in his time, everything he shouldn't want. And Jareth had craved the danger that had come riding with it. And his looks had not helped him on that day.

Mortals had always been the downfall of Fae. It was why they lived in separate realms, worlds separated by a wall of magic and a weave of time. They had such fleeting lives, and in the time they lived they were virulent. Beautiful in their destruction, as unpredictable as a storm. So naive. So _ignorant._ Of everything that surrounded them, of what lay just out of reach. With a scarce few every century or so who broke those rules and managed to bridge the gap with the most deadly and breathtaking of things; A thing called _Imagination._

There had been better Fae than he who had met their downfall at the hands of humankind. Some renounced who they were and shed themselves of their immortality to join the ones they loved, only to find that it had never been reciprocated . Some ran headfirst into war to seek a way out of the eternal torment they wrought. And then there were those who wasted away... turning to dust... and finally dissapated into the wind.

Eternity was for those who achieved Paradise while still in the living realm. Jareth had never been in love with the idea of living forever. What was there to live that long for?

* * *

Sarah awoke, the tail of a name on her lips as her green eyes sprang open and stared unseeingly into her old room. Her cheeks were wet with tears she had cried in her sleep, the hollow of her throat clammy from where they had pooled. She could hear Toby muttering in his sleep in the next room, hear him thrashing in his bed, but it barely registered as her hands tucked in under her chin.

Her heart was hammering, but not from fear. It wasn't the rapid pattering like a rabbit who had narrowly escaped the fox that had been tracking it for miles. It was the heavy, hard _thud_ that echoed in her ears and rang out in pain. Mental, emotional. Not physical.

An extreme sense of _loss_ held her. Yet she couldn't even say from _what_ it came. But she could hear that she was sobbing, even as her hands tried to muffle it with her duvet, and she could feel a cold chill as if her window were wide open. Like something had suddenly vanished, had been ripped from her. And her heart was breaking within her chest so sharply that she couldn't _breathe_.

Throwing her covers off her, Sarah sat up and scrambled from the clutches of her mattress to run to her vanity, her bare feet burying into her carpet and making her slide. She had to see her mirror. Even though nothing had seemingly changed and there was still a dust sheet covering it. She _had_ to. Everything in her was screaming at her that something was wrong, and that was the crux of it.

Panicking hands scrambled over the sheet searching for purchase, and finally caught hold of a corner and tugged. Yanking it free of the frame as the table rocked slightly from the force, she threw the sheet to the side without even looking at it, and stood there panting as she finally saw her reflection.

Then her chest seemed to seize and she let out a another heartaching sob into her hand, doubling over in pain and denial at what else she saw.

The glass was cracked. The reflection dull. The photos of her friends were missing from where her younger self had tucked them into the border of the frame. Everything she had become afraid of that had centered here... was gone.

He had given up on her. Jareth had moved on... or had died.

 _'He isn't real! He was never real! You made him up!'_

Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didimus... they were all gone. She had ignored them, taken them for granted and denied their existence and now they were gone.

 _'This is what put you into therapy! Pull yourself together! Or do you want to be scared of pictures and stories for the rest of your life?!'_

The book... where was the book?!

Sarah bit down on her lower lip to stifle a sound of panic as her hands yanked on the drawers beneath her dressing table, revealing old scraps of paper and lipsticks... but no familiar red-leather book. Then she sat back onto the ornately carved bench and sighed, her breath coming in fits and starts as she scrubbed at the tears still spilling down her face. It was gone too.

It was over. After all these years... after a decade of dreams... it was finally over.

An hour or so passed with her sitting there, the tears slowing down and her breathing returning to normal. Toby had fallen silent some time ago, now lost in more peaceful dreams.

Finally the hiccups ceased too, and her head rose to look into the broken mirror a mere foot or so from her face.

Her green eyes had darkened in colour, almost sparkling back at her against the bloodshot white that surrounded the iris'. Her skin was puffy and red. Her lips almost the colour of blood from where she had nearly bitten them to shreds.

And Sarah couldn't help but draw parallels to the last time she had sat at this very spot and had cried like this. Not much had changed. She looked young and vulnerable once more, the darkness of her bedroom highlighting her cheekbones and soft features.

Her gaze dropped to her right hand, which at some point had fallen to rest with her palm and fingers against the mirror pane. Her index finger stroked the glass slightly as she looked at it, her mouth tugging downwards as she watched. Then she forced herself to meet her own gaze and took in a deep breath, then made herself smile.

This was it then. "...Goodbye, Jareth."

Just down the hall, Toby's body was lying almost deathly still. But inside his own mind, he was screaming.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Please R&R, reviews keep me in the writing zone!

* * *

The familiarity of his surroundings should have helped to keep him calm, but then the walls around him were not as he remembered. He'd ran from the girl after the ground had swallowed her in a frantic attempt to stay alive... only to find himself faced with a new predicament. Which he was doing his best to ignore in favour of trying to gather his bearings. The walls were far more delapidated than he remembered which only made him more nervous, and there was a distinct lack of life. The plants had wilted. Most had died. There was old stone and brick now littering the path through the gigantic sprawling maze where they had once lined it instead on either side within the now crumbling walls. And for some strange reason Toby was feeling the loss on a personal level. The state of things had him melancholy and aching... as if someone had smashed his prized gameboy in front of his face.

"He doesn't _look_ like a threat, anyway. Not the way Eanraig described."

And the place wasn't bathed in warm golds and pinks like he thought he remembered. The sky overhead was murky and grey, and with that had bled the colour of the Labyrinth and the Goblin King's Kingdom. There was a distinct... _wrong_ feeling about it. That made him want to demand an explanation, or to get his Mom to. Hell, even _Sarah_ would have been his go to in order to get this mess sorted. But she didn't know about this place; No one knew about this place. Because he was dreaming. And it wasn't real. And it was all down to the multipack of cheetos he'd scoffed while reading his Sister's stupid red book about weird men in too-tight trousers.

"He still shouldn't _be here_ , Baran, or have you forgotten the laws of our people so soon?"

The ground underneath him was cold and unforgiving, and it startled him as he braced himself on his hands to either side of his legs. The chill crept through his jeans like biting needles and he huffed at it, swinging up onto his knees, and finally looked up at the two figures barring any immediate escape. Panic began to rise until it gripped him fully and his eyes slid from their statures to the weapons strapped to their sides, then to their stern expressions, then back down as their fingers flexed within their gloves.

A shriek left the boy as a pair of invisible hands descended on him, then they grew to surround him so he was forcibly pinned in his place. A moment later pain lanced through his legs and he found himself deposited back on his backside with his legs yanked straight out in front of him, ankles together. He tried to scream for help but the sound was cut from his throat prematurely by a cord he couldn't see, leaving him gaping, then the blond of the pair scoffed in disgust and turned to his partner and growled something in a language he didn't understand. The other one pulled a face in response, but answered in heavily accented English.

"...Well? He was hurting my ears, Arlyn. I had forgotten how easily scared mortals tend to be... we were barely even looking at him."

"He has reason to be afraid; we are heavily armed besides our magic, and you just forced his legs from under him."

"You were already holding him still in a position that is saved for hostages. He is even less of a threat when seated."

"He _is_ a hostage, Baran! He is _trespassing_ , has broken past _all_ of Jareth's wards, and we have no idea how he's doing it!"

"Semantics. We will get our answers; ...At least I can hear you now."

Baran glanced at Toby for a second and twitched his finger, and Toby felt his mouth close of its own accord, his teeth clacking. A strangled sound came from his throat but under the scrutinising stares from his captors, it died.

His panic rose even higher although confusion was warring to take its place, his eyes darting about frantically still searching for an escape. He wasn't trespassing! He was _dreaming_. And while he had wanted an interruption or distraction, even, to take him away from the horror he had witnessed not so long ago, this hadn't been the rescue he had sought. It _still_ wasn't. But even the first time he'd turned up here and had been found by the weird platinum-blond guy... this _force_ hadn't happened... and the men in front of him didn't seem to be kidding around. Where was Sarah? What had happened to the crying girl? _Who_ was the crying girl?

The pair were bickering in hushed voices, but every time he so much as tried to swallow, they'd pause to look at him. So he went back to looking around him again- from what little he could see in his current vantage point since he couldn't turn his head- and would have frowned if he could. He was farther from the Castle than the last time his dreams had brought him to this place. He couldn't see or smell the tiny, ugly things that were allowed to roam free here but had disappeared when the man had appeared. If the book wasn't lying- and these men weren't, either- and that was where this dream had taken him, the things were _goblins?_... and honestly he'd have preferred a hoarde of them to the reception he currently had. How far in the maze was he?

Shouldn't Male-Barbie have been here too, then? He had been here the last time Toby had appeared in the decrepit land. Jareth, wasn't it? Somehow though, he had the feeling that asking that question would only make his current situation worse. Which for Toby... was quite an intelligent thought. And he took a moment to feel proud about it while the pair were distracted. He was slowly figuring this out.

The almost leash-like feeling around his throat dissipated, taking his momentary pride with it, and he sucked in a large lungful of air and tried not to let his fright take over. It was a small moment before he felt stable again and he coughed before shooting them both his most petulant of looks. In all the kidnapping films he'd seen, this was generally where the interrogation began. But he was smarter than those film heroes, and he had a better family. He wasn't going to give them what they wanted without a fight, and since his hands had been unfairly bound, he would fight with words. HAdn't Sarah always said that words had power?

"I'm not saying anything to you without a lawyer present. I have a right to legal council," he began haughtily, straining against his invisible restraints to try to lift his chin, "And you can't keep me here without solid grounds for arrest, as there are no signs saying this is private land."

Sarah had taught him that last year, after he'd accidentally been caught at the wrong place and the wrong time by their local cops. There'd been some mixup with a band of teenagers moments before, and he'd turned up in the same place by sheer coincidence as the police had arrived while walking Merlin.

Arlyn's brow rose at his words, before turning to look at Baran.

Baran was still staring at Toby as if trying to determine what kind of creature he was and what kind of hole he had crawled out from. Essentially, the Fae's usual expression of puzzlement, only slightly heavier.

After a few more moments, he opened his mouth... then closed it again. Then finally his lips parted oncemore, to deliver one word, and one word only. " _...What?!_ "

"I said: I'm not saying anything to you without a lawyer present."

"But you are speaking _now_ , you-"

"A lawyer?" Arlyn intercepted neatly, glaring at his Northern Comrade for a second, "We do not have lawyers in Albion, boy."

Toby gaped for another moment then pulled a face of confused disgust. "Legal council, then. Every country has Legal Council. Even weird places like this." He didn't exactly know where Albion was on the atlas but he was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they didn't know what the word 'lawyer' meant.

Arlyn scratched his jaw, still watching him through golden eyes. "We have monarchs here, and they each hold their own council. Unless you're in Terauramulis, in which case you face the high council. But again, Albion does not assign specific councils to a single mortal as they are only assigned to royalty and nobility. Why do you require them to be present in order to talk?"

The boy frowned again. "So... you're pretty far off the grid then? Mom said royalty were a dying idea. So you have to be further away from everyone than like... Australia, then," Toby decided, scoffing, "See, in _real_ countries, we have these people who defend you when you break laws. They fix things like wrong arrests. And would advise me not to speak to you. So I'm not."

Baran growled, muttering from the corner of his mouth to the other, "Choill would have taken him out by now. He's mocking us."

' _Choill... as in Choilleach? Do they know the man who came to our house?'_

Arlyn ignored him, "Tell me, boy; who are you and what is your business here? Surely your... your _lawyer_ would allow as much?"

Toby looked between them both, and finally sagged in relief as he was slowly released back to himself. Baran scowled and took a few steps away to lean against one of the walls, folding his arms tightly across his broad chest, but made no move to intervene and Toby decided to drop the idea of questioning them about the strange man he'd met previously. This... was slightly more even ground. Whatever happened now was between him and The Other Blond. He played with his fingers as the blood flowed freely to them again and tried to sound as grown up as possible. He was 12, practically an adult. Or at least, he supposed, he would be in a few months when he turned 13.

He cleared his throat. "My name is Tobias- Toby- Williams and I am not here, I am asleep. Right now. In my bed. Or possibly on the couch.. no, pretty sure I made it to bed."

Arlyn swore quietly and backed away, pressing the back of his hand to his mouth just as Baran suddenly pushed off from the wall and strode over, swinging forward and crowding his space. A meaty hand flashed out and grasped his shoulder before he had the chance to scramble away from the man, weighing heavily enough that he dared not move in case it broke his shoulder from the rest of his body. He swallowed. This "good cop/bad cop" routine was getting a little intense.

"...Williams?" Baran demanded quietly, granite eyes boring into him. Toby gulped again and nodded, but instead of being released, the man's hold tightened.

"...List your immediate familial connections, Tobias. Now."

Toby looked for Arlyn, but the fae had turned his back on him, so he was left to return his gaze. Why did his family matter? Was this because of that strange man a few nights ago? Had his parents done something wrong? Who had that man been?

"My Dad is Robert Williams. My Mom is Karen Williams. Have they do-"

" _All_ of your family, Tobias. Quickly now, before I lose my patience. Questions from you can come later."

He didn't know his Aunt's very well... nor his Uncles. If he had cousins he didn't know them. He frowned. That only left...

"I have a sister but she doesn't live with us- though she's living with us now because she's taking a break from college. Her name is Sara-"

His mouth was shut so fast his teeth clattered and ached, and then he fell over as he was released.

Baran strode over to Arlyn and they began talking quickly again. They had gone weirdly pale, and the blonde one looked worried. The dark haired one looked sick. And the only thing he could make out from the exchange made his stomach drop.

"...Eanraig was right. Something is wrong, we have to take him like we were ordered. _Before_ Jareth returns."

"But he's in Terauramulis. In an hour's span, it will be too dark to see true in the midlands. Surely... he wouldn't-"

"I was told that Yennifer was the last to seek to speak to him, and the token has just grown warm. Whatever was said must have displeased our friend."

Toby swallowed thickly, his heartbeat picking up again. His teeth were grinding with the force of which his jaw was being held closed by that stupid invisible force, and he was too afraid to bring anymore attention to his already "troublesome" existence. Take him where? Why had Sarah's name been taken as almost blasphemous? Were his parents in danger?

"But this makes no sense; The boy is _solid_... not just a psychological projection. Yet Jaque would have reported the boy leaving the Williams residence, and Jareth would have been alerted of a mortal gaining entrance to his realm. Neither of which have happened."

Toby tried to frown, his muscles screaming with the effort, at that statement. As far as reoccurring dreams went, this one was one of his least favourite. He'd been hurt, interrogated, judged and pushed around... all for being somewhere in his sleep that he had no control over.

Baran's brow furrowed, his mouth twitching south at the corner as his expression grew soft. "Is... is the portal still in operation?"

"No. It was reported severed a short time ago, just before I met with you here, though no one is sure how. The-" Arlyn glanced at Toby again over his shoulder and lowered his voice further- "The _other_ one apparently hasn't taken it so well."

"She never used it. A gift as priceless as that, and it has sat unopened since just after it arrived. Why would the loss affect her?"

"...Baran, sometimes you really make me wonder how you came to be married, let alone a King in your own right. You know little of women, let alone empathy."

"Why deny our existence and that of our world if she felt so? Why hate us so fervently?"

"I believe the blame is to lay at the feet of fear and confusion, not to mention her father and the boy's mother were hardly receptive. But enough of this; it is not our place to deliberate over these things alone. We have orders."

"All I am saying is that Jaret-"

Arlyn's gloved hand suddenly raised, pausing him mid-sentence. "Quiet... do you feel that? The wards are loosening. He's nearly home," he quickly interrupted, turning his head finally to look at Toby, "We have to take the boy, _now_."

Toby tried to shake his head, to scrabble backwards as fast as he could and run. All he succeeded in doing was flopping over onto his stomach and noisily inhaling the path's dust into his nostrils. This did nothing to inhibit either of the men, and a moment later he saw the floor quickly pan away as he was bodily hoisted off of it and onto one of the men's shoulders as if he weighed nothing.

"There's no way of transporting him the way we usually do; it will be too slow. We'll need to do it the flashy way," the back he leaned on rumbled, and he got a mouthful of cloth as the man stepped forward suddenly. The smell contrasted their surroundings so vividly... it smelled of cold weather, and woodsmoke. Like an outside bonfire... in December. With a side of horse.

He gagged, spluttering and coughing against the fabric, but didn't have time to take in a true lungful of air before the air at the back of his legs started bubbling, then the two kidnappers stepped into it, and he passed out.

* * *

Long fingers with manicured nails traced over the wooden scrollwork, following it's intricate design to its finish at the end of the ornate mantlepiece. A carved depiction of a past war that had ravaged Albion and almost left it on its knees shone from where the fire's light bathed it, keeping the wood warm, and large eyes spanned the artwork with a critical gaze.

While aesthetically pleasing, it was an ugly thing, and it was hard to believe that this furnishing was loved by anyone, let alone a noble. The craftsmanship may have been beautiful but its content was not. Why make such a thing the room's feature piece, when one could have elaborate paintings of a more peaceful time in its stead? It was unnerving. And it caused the hairs on the backs of the fae's swarthy arms to rise proud of her skin.

It was more than simply carved wood; it held a magical presence that didn't resound with her own. Instead it was far darker, colder, and it was jarring. This wasn't the first time that the castle had disquieted her, nor its inhabitants. It wasn't the darkness and the mists that surrounded the Isle and pressed in on the cool bricks from all sides, for she had been a ward in these parts for half a millenia before rising into her role to help the Lord and his daughter. That was part of what she knew to be home and would generally put her at ease. It was the silence. The secrets. The unexplainable happenings that she wasn't allowed to enquire after. Today, the furnishings. With a quiet sigh, Aliannah turned away to let the fire warm the back of her skirts, and folded her hands as she waited to be received.

This would be a sparing meeting, compared to those previous since she had taken up her post on Earth. There was very little to report, yet again, for her 'charge' had yet to return to the University since all but absconding at dawn a week or so previous. Why she was to be here tonight, she did not know, for neither her Lady nor her father had deigned to divulge such information in her summons. In fact, her Lady's swift return from her trip to the Capital had her a little off guard for her missive had stated that she'd be absent for a few days. Pressing her full lips together, the fae pushed any doubts or questions away with a long breath, and focused her dark eyes on the candles sitting on the table before her. Questions weren't going to help her. They never had. Her place was to answer questions, not ask them.

The door finally opened again and she looked up at the newcomer, dipping into a formal curtsy and averting her eyes. They lingered in the dark space behind the figure, then finally lifted before the door shut once more.

* * *

The moons had begun their ascent in earnest when the owl appeared above the tree line to the southern border, its flight graceful and silent. Many eyes turned to watch its progress towards the looming castle, many from the city outside it, and a few from the maze that lined them both. There were some frowns and a great amount of muttering as the goblins ushered each other back inside and pulled their doors and window shutters closed, then the owl disappeared through one of the balconies in the highest point and was lost from view.

Jareth staggered to a stop within his chambers, narrowly missing crashing into his desk as his boots hit the floor hard and unbalanced. His breath was ragged and his chest heaved as he braced his weight on the wooden top and used it to manoeuvre himself past, his teeth bared in a hiss at the pain that lanced up his legs. The feeling- or lack of- within his chest had yet to recede, and he pressed a gloved hand to it as he slowly progressed towards his bathroom and away from any of the entrances to his rooms.

A cold wind stirred outside, bringing in a cold draught with smells from his decaying land, cutting out any other sound as it rushed past the open space of his window. A shiver ran down to the base of his spine, goosebumps erupting across his skin as if a cold pair of hands had coaxed them. Taking any shred of warmth from his quarters as he traversed across them until the chill began to settle inside.

He'd felt the mirror break just as he had taken off. The splintering glass had been felt within his magic as if someone had broken something internally within him, and the backlash had made his journey all the more turbulent. He had fed into that mirror for nearly a century- for the last ten Earth years- and the pain he had been hit with couldn't be shrugged off. Nor could the empty silence.

In the past, it had always felt like a pause before an answer, waiting on her sitting down at the vanity with the intent of trying to contact someone. Her friends. _Him_. Now it was not just an absence of noise... but of presence too. She was no longer there just out of reach, at the tips of his ever-stretching fingers. No more a part of him, nor he a part of her.

Jareth kicked off his boots and left them in his wake as he continued on towards the spacious en suite, loosening his shirt from his jodhpurs and wrenching it over his head to cast aside. It shouldn't matter. It _didn't_ matter. She had been a mistake, a thorn in his side twisting ever deeper with each passing moon's turn. The girl was of no relevance and hadn't been for much too long. No more would he tarry within these walls staring into a crystal vision of her. No longer would his flat eyes roam his land as he retraced her path in her desperate plight to save the child, blind to how the land was dying, unseeing of its suffering under his still hands. She had ran and she had won, and in doing so she had taken the life from this realm and from him. Had touched too many lives and he had let them go unchecked.

Those that had helped her hadn't seen him since her departure and he knew that had been worse than any other punishment he could have dealt. They didn't stray near the stone walls of his city, daren't look up at the looming form of his castle for fear that after all this time his wrath may lay unto them. After a few decades they drifted from each other back to their respective places and tasks, farewells lying in the air behind them unsaid. The troll had retreated back within the forest that bordered his Kingdom and the Llín eile Coille to where the Fireys dwelled. Sir Didymus had taken his mutt back to the verge of the Bog of Eternal Stench and once more taken up the mantle of commanding the bridge's crossers. And Hogwart... Jareth hadn't even looked to see where the ugly, conspiring dwarf had gone.

None of it mattered. What was said, _was said._ What was done, was _done._ The King realised he was once more at war, of another kind than usual. He found that he didn't care any longer. About his land, his titles, his allegiances and his vows. His bonds. His responsibility. Yet he also cared too much to the point he couldn't bring himself to turn around and see the state of life outside and how it now sat. A plague of ignorance gripped the maze that sprawled miles in either direction and it rotted the brick that made it, gave no purchase to any life. Much that had once called it home had left, departed, either willingly or through death. The magic... had receded. And now he had to fix it, one way or another, for soon it would not just be his home. Would not just be _his_ kingdom. The thought was emotionless, purely logical and practical. It just _was_.

He was now betrothed, his mind would have to conform. Tomorrow he would have to be seen to take the required steps within this new courtship, to make plans for his Kingdom and his future, as well as that of his subjects. The land outside these walls was crying out for help, for salvation. It needed care. It needed him at his best, in order to fix what he had done. That meant his mind would have to change roles and he would have to believe in these new plans as if they had been his to make all along. The time for mourning was up. This would not be a marriage for love but for necessity, for duty, and that suited him well. It wasn't unheard of, though it was uncommon. His kind were emotional to a fault, so many joinings were for love and prosperity. Devotion to a lifelong mate. And that had become his undoing, his double edged sword, so Jareth had to be willing to see this through. His line had to continue, his land and his titles needed an heir to pass on to. The heir that had rights to his throne did not know of them and had been an unconventional choice, so he would be unrecognised to step up now. The opportunity had long passed and he was content to let the words fall on deaf ears and fall into the past to become buried in the dust of time. Toby... had been a promising child. Inquisitive. Instinctual. Had even bore a resemblance to himself. And with his parting from his sister, he had parted from the boy as well as he came to the cusp of adulthood. The years where he would need a strong guiding hand. And he knew his parents were, and would always be, incapable of giving him what he needed.

Gloved fingers tugged at the laces of his trousers, and moments later they were kicked to join his other garments along the far wall. His pale blond tresses ghosted over his bare collarbone as his bare feet hit polished marble and he crossed over his bathing room to its far wall. Covering the ceiling was a lake of water, rippling and calm, barely trickling down. The wall was different from the others; it was made of dark brick. The same brick used when he had single-handedly built his Labyrinth, layer by layer, day by day by hand and sealed with magic. There were veins of green running through it and he let his tired eyes focus on them as he headed for it, his lips set in a thin line. Naming Toby his heir had been a temporary measure. He had been willing to take on the child as his own ward if not his own son for Her, so her efforts wouldn't be for nought. Would have kept him human instead of turning him, if it was her wish, if she had failed. Even though he had made every effort to help her win while willing her to give up. So she would know that regardless of what was said, the innocent wouldn't be harmed. And now the boy returned as a mirage to taunt him. Pervading into the sanctity of his mind until he began to doubt it, began to question himself. His single weakness had been exploited. And in order to bring it to an end, he had had to give up everything once more.

There was but a single window near the top of the twelve foot, brick wall. It was circular, small, latticed so the light shining in was filtered and broken so he was never greeted with harsh sunlight each morning when he arose. Now it was letting in a greyish light, tinged with pink, signalling the final notes of the day, and he lifted his eyes to it as its light highlighted his pale form. The three walls it overlooked were bathed in the weak light but the one he faced stood dark, untouched by all but the water overhead. Here, besides his breathing, the only other sound was the barest drops of water. In a time where his mind was in turmoil, churning regret and apathy, this was to be his sanctuary. Alone. Unseen. Unheard. Stepping into the wall's shadow.

Bracing his forearms against the wall, he curled his hands, and the body of water overhead came down upon him in earnest like a monsoon. The water cleaned as it ran from the floor back up the far wall to continuously regroup above, and he dropped his head to his arms as his body tensed to the point of screaming for release. Emotional. Everything he had suppressed all this time, all these centuries, since he had left the Spire as a faeling. Since Sarah had left him, too young to understand what had been on offer and at stake. When he had given her his heart as a promise for the future, as a bargaining chip for her to stay with him so he would no longer be alone. The first soul in a millenia to touch his own. To really make him feel alive. And he had known she was still a child, though nearly a woman. But the Fae... nothing was based on time. On age. Time was different in Albion, it ran slower. He was younger here than he was in her world for humans aged so differently and their realm was so delicate. And he had changed to accomodate that, thinking it would help. His soul was younger than a human's form and here, surrounded by his own, it showed. Still a man. If she had only stayed she would have seen, he'd have helped her understand. He had been so sure... after she had accepted every gift, every hint. Had been led to the entrance... only to turn her back on it to return to a world that would never understand her. Where she would never belong.

His lithe form stood silhouetted against the room, eyes clenched shut and his mouth barely parted so he could breathe. His hair turned darker, clinging to his cheeks and his neck, running into points around his face. Beneath, through long lashes, ran a solitary tear to mix with the water cascading down upon his back. He had spent nearly his whole life alone, and now he would be alone with someone else. Someone he didn't love. Someone who caused his mind to turn almost trance like against his will until he didn't know what to do or feel. A reaction so different to the dark haired mortal who had rested his power from him and brought colour into his domain. And he would have to bear it with a smile, his chin high, as if it was what he wanted. For it no longer mattered _what_ he wanted or needed. His responsibilities came first. He was too proud to give them up.

Tomorrow he would be a different person. The one others needed him to be, and his land. Tomorrow he would begin anew. Putting all of this behind him so it no longer controlled him, so he could exist at his post once more.

But for tonight, he would allow himself one final selfish act.

To let himself feel his broken heart. To think of Sarah a last time. To say goodbye.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews guys :3

* * *

By the end of the week, an eerie darkness had settled on the Williams residence. One that couldn't be lifted no matter how many windows were open and letting in light from outside. Karen had stopped asking both Sarah and Toby what had come over them and now sat in quiet at meals, quickly excusing herself the minute it was over to clear the entire kitchen anew. Robert had scarce noticed much other than the fact that the interruptions to his morning reading of the newspaper had all but ceased. But for the two siblings... there was more going on behind their shuttered gazes and the fact that they hadn't split up for quite some time now.

Sarah had decided to return back to University after her impromptu break from her studies and had rang Aliannah to ensure that her best friend had kept hold of everything she'd need to catch up again. Toby hadn't even acknowledged them since coming down the stairs past a sharp hitch in his breath and a long stare directed at his sister's back. Yet all he got was a ruffle of his hair and a suffocating hug then she'd left, striding down the driveway to her car without a backwards glance. And the boy had stood there in the doorway watching until he couldn't see the fumes from her exhaust any longer, barely hearing his mother tell his father that Sarah's mirror had broken and that they would need to phone someone to pick it up to take to the dump. With her departure had gone his resolve to willingly go to sleep at night. Especially now that he knew more than likely what would be waiting there for him when he finally succumbed. Sarah had left him to it alone.

Finally, he swung the door shut and turned on his heel to run back up the stairs to his room to find the book again, to find out what happened after the girl had eaten the peach and blatantly ignoring his mother's wheedling voice calling on him to sit with them in the living room in the process. Ironically the girl in the book reminded him of Sarah- ironic, as his sister despised peaches with a furious passion - with her nature and her approach to the problems she came up against. At this point he had given up trying to find a way out of whatever the hell kind of dream was plaguing him these past few weeks as the one time he'd mentioned it to a friend at school, the teacher had gotten involved and asked if he needed to speak to someone. Seeing a shrink at his age was social _disaster_ and he _refused_ to go into any kind of room and talk to the person there about men in jodhpurs and castles and how familiar the whole place seemed to him. He was hoping this book had the answers. Until that morning, he had thought that of all people, he could have spoken to Sarah.

Truth was that he was terrified now when the sun went down and the hours for him spent awake dwindled in number as the moon climbed higher in the sky. Like a burden sitting on his chest and staring him in the face with each time the clock in the hall tolled its hour. Knowing that when his eyelids finally blinked and didn't open again... there were going to be certain people on the other end waiting on him. Big men that towered over him in mass and height. With large weapons he knew he couldn't hope to lift strapped by their sides even though they didn't need them to hurt him. Not that they _had_ hurt him since he'd been taken to that... really nice place. Beautiful? If you liked that kind of thing. He'd only gotten a glimpse before the shoulder he'd been flung over turned and descended into a cold area of a building where there was no light. Just a desk with a chair for him to sit in and a fireplace, some torches on the walls. Where he was being endlessly interrogated from the minute he went to sleep until he woke back up again.

Strange things, as well. About his life from as far back as he could remember and everything he knew about his family and their lives. About Sarah's real mom - which, hey, _not even Sarah knew_ \- and whether he'd ever eaten anything since first turning up. Then he'd been examined. His teeth. His ears. His _eyes_. By a 'court physician' who had been trembling from the minute he walked in until the minute he'd left, let in by the one who hadn't carried him. At this point all he knew were first names and that didn't help him much. The man that had carried him was Baran, and he thought of Toby the way that Toby thought of bugs or really sticky looking kids. The other... Arlyn, who had gotten them to this place, spent most of his time scrawling on a bit of parchment and sending the scrolls through thin air so they disappeared with a faint _pop!_ every few minutes. And the last. He kept hearing the name Eanraig but had yet to actually hear anything from the man in question, though he knew that He had been the one to shackle him in heavy chains to the chair when he'd turned up, with a flick of his hand so he couldn't move.. and when he hadn't reacted the way the man had expected, he had looked... horrified. But then he had left... never to come back.

And somehow he got this feeling that no one else knew that he was there or that _they_ were there. Every now and then one would have to step out because The Queen had requested them, or the Captain of the Guard, and they stayed silent from the minute the door opened to the minute the bolt slid forward again into the lock. If anyone knocked, they threw something over Toby to cover him and started cracking jokes with however was at the door... only to have the most serious faces aimed at him the minute the cover was snatched away again when the person had taken their leave. And he couldn't even call out to them. He didn't know _who_ or _what_ he was calling out _to_.

Then they'd regroup and leave him drinking a glass of water to talk amongst themselves, about this weird 'Jareth' guy that he'd been threatened by at the very start of this very long nightmare and of the Fair One.

It was the same each and every time he went to sleep- or at least it had been for the past few nights, and he was still waiting for the punchline. Sighing, the boy threw himself onto his bed and grabbed the red bound book from underneath his pillow, his Gameboy going unnoticed beside his feet, and flicked through the pages idly until he found the last page he'd been on. It took longer that it should have as the page he had sworn he'd bent the corner on to mark his place had been as straight as all the others when he finally found it again. Yet another oddity in a line full of oddities. The lamp on his dressed clicked on as if someone had tapped it, even though he hadn't even reached for it, yet that went ignored as well as his eyes were pulled into the page with such insensity that he couldn't concentrate on anything else. The book pulled him back into its thrall, watched by many different pairs of eyes.

The hawk outside his bedroom window hadn't moved all day and it continued to stay motionless as the pages began to turn in earnest and the time passed with increasing speed. Underneath his bed, however, the dust motes opened their eyes and shook themselves free, until their bodies were free from the long forgotten dirt and looked amongst themselves. Bulbous eyes glinted in the lowlight, sniggers and hissing laughs muffled by his overhanging duvet trailing on the carpet as they took stock of their surroundings.

 _"He is reading again!"_ Whispered one, its ear pressed against the bed's springs directly beneath Toby's form.

" _That damn fae hasn't left his post_ once _since the dawn's break. I'm getting cramp-"_

 _"You're getting cramp? Len has been sitting on my head for the past hour!"  
_  
 _"It was your idea to hide here instead of in his wardrobe, we would have been fine!"  
_  
 _"Shh shh shh! Listen..."_

Toby's voice mumbled a little as he read out part of the passage to himself distractedly, then he settled down again and fell silent.

 _"If Kingy finds out we're here, we'll all be tossed into the Bog of Eternal Stench. It's been daysss..."_ Another one rasped, shaking his head indignantly at the rest of the goblins huddling towards the foot of the bed.

 _"It's because of Kingy that we're here, Tin-Ton. Now shuddup and quit whining."_

 _"All we have to do is make sure he finishes the book. Then we'll get the music box. Then the mir-"_

 _"The mirror smashed days ago you idiot! What are we gonna do, show him his reflection?!"_

 _"With your bulbous face in here it's no surprise it smashed!"_

 _"Guysss quieeet..."_

The leader held up a pawed hand and lifted the corner of the blanket back to gawp up at the window for a moment. Then he dropped it, shaking his head as he looked down at his feet.

 _"'T's no good... the guard stays at his post. We must head back before The King notices we're gone."_

 _"All of us?"_

They looked at the smallest of their group, a small bottle-green goblin all but shaking as it took its ear away from the springs to look at them with fear in her eyes.

 _"...Deg stays. We need to make sure he finishes the book."_

With small pops, the others disappeared in small showers of anxious glitter, and the lone bundle of rags was left to take up her post. Outside the window the hawk's head moved as it turned its eye to the boys carpet... then it took flight suddenly, dropping leaves from the branch it had clutched in its wake. Toby turned yet another page, visions of elegantly dressed strangers and masks dancing in a spinning room clouding his mind, a girl searching for someone... or something.

* * *

Sleep took him faster than he'd anticipated. One minute he was cheering on the girl for escaping the ball to resume her hunt for her brother and the next his bed had given way and parted in the middle, dropping him and his soundless scream into inky black depths that swallowed light. The black walls of the hole started to change from intangible darkness to hard-to-see brick and then to smooth stone walls and his falling slowed again like every other night... until his feet made contact with the rushes on the floor and his butt sank into the upholstered wooden chair waiting for him in front of the desk.

Expecting the chains, he leaned his head back on instinct to avoid any of them hitting him and then shut his eyes as if to ward it all off. But instead of feeling the cold bite of the metal settling onto him, he felt nothing. And after moment he sat back up straight and slowly opened his eyes. His gaze landing straight on a pair of such dark blue that they looked black, and he relaxed, a large breath leaving him in an audible whoosh.

"Lachlan! How did you find me? Can you get me out of here?" He asked quickly, smiling brightly at the large man and sitting forward in his seat. But Choilleach merely smiled a little sadly at him, making no move to stand up from the chair he was straddling. Rain still clung to the broad expanse of his shoulders still enshrouded beneath a large coat of sorts as well as to his beard and Toby felt unease slide down his throat back into his stomach the longer his questions went unanswered.

"Lachlan? What's going on...?" He tried harder, but his voice sounded small even to his own ears. His eyes darted to the door but it was blocked by another Fae in a strange... metallic green kind of armour that seemed to ripple in the light as he fidgeted. When he looked back, Choilleach was inspecting his hand that Sarah had bandaged just last week. Only... it was bandage free. Scar free. As if it hadn't been torn open horribly in the last _month_ let alone the last week. Which was... impossible. Utterly impossible. Unless...

"You're not here to help me at all, are you."

It wasn't a question this time but a statement, and the adolescent boy slumped back in his seat and looked balefully at him for a long moment before muttering under his breath and looking away to the side at the floor, his expression tightening into a scowl.

"No, Tobias... Not in the capacity you want. I cannot break you free from this place. That is out of my abilities, I'm afraid." The warrior fae finally acquiesced, lifting his head as his eyes roamed the boy's face. There was no trace of fae in him, not even a little. And still it did not make sense that he could be here otherwise.

Toby merely huffed in response and crossed his arms over his chest, continuing to glower at a random spot of dirt. The guard at the door coughed into his gauntlet and then the silence slid into the air again.

"... Tobias Williams... You have caused quite the stir with my... superiors. This appearing and disappearing trick you have going on is a frightening breach of security. Until they can figure out how you are doing this, or you tell them, this door will only be opened by one of them. They cannot trust you. What they don't trust may enter this room but it cannot leave. Do you understand?"

The Fae shifted in his seat and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose then clasping his hands. Finally, Toby lifted his chin in a nod and barely turned his head so he could look at him, but otherwise made no move to reply.

"It takes magic to circumvent magic. That much is the natural law of existence. Not a rule- just a fact. The problem, then, is that you do not _possess_ magic and neither do your parents. Which means that someone or some _thing_ else is bringing you here. We are merely trying to find out _what_ or _what_ that is."

Toby sniffed. "You lied to us, didn't you. That night you came to our house. It wasn't an accident, was it?"

Choilleach looked sharply up at the guard at the door and jerked his chin, and waited until the armour-clad fae had left the room before he started to formulate a reply. "Yes... and no."

"Well, which is it?!"

"I'm afraid your question will have to be a little more specific. Or a little more broad."

The blonde groaned in irritation, barely restraining himself from an expletive his mother would certain batter him about the head with a dish towel for.

"You're one of _them_ , right?"

A smile. "Right."

"You faked an injury to get into our house, right?"

A shake of the head. "Wrong."

"Then how did you rip a hole in your hand?"

The fae grimaced at the thought, looking back at the hand as if, like Toby, he expected to see something still there as well.

"I had been guarding your home for quite some time now. With the storm the other night, I was in my err... _other_ form. And my wing was destroyed as the branch I was using... snapped."

Toby pulled a face and shuddered, crossing his arms even further across his chest in disgust. "You've been _spying_ on us!"

"...Technically speaking. For your own safety as well as ours."

"Why did you send that guy out?"

"Who, Brandubh? The guard? Because no one knows that I sought aid that night."

The boy paused in confusion. "So... you're not _allowed_ to come _into_ our house?"

"Right."

"But you did it anyway?"

"I was losing a lot of blood and for reasons I cannot depart, I could not heal myself. I needed aid."

"Why aren't you allowed into our home?"

Another smile. "You ask many questions, young Tobias. The simple answer is simply because it was against my orders."

"This doesn't make any _sense_. Why are you watching us? Why do I keep coming here- And why does everybody hate me so much?!"

Toby stood from his chair with enough force that it slowly tipped over, then he stalked away towards the far corner of the room looking for another door or just _something_ that made sense. Choilleach merely turned in his seat so he could watch him, eyes barely flickering in a blink as his gaze attached raptly to his form with trained precision.

"You are human. _Mortal_. Your kind doesn't belong here, in normal circumstances. Hasn't since our two realms were separated," He began, folding his hands in his lap, "And we have been watching for the last... in your time, ten years. Again, for both of our best interests. And now it is because of your recent trips here as well as the visitation of your sister. I have no answer to your other question."

"It's not like I _asked_ to be here! I'd rather be fighting dragons or on stage with a band and famous instead of here. I can't control where I dream!" He exclaimed in response, whirling round to look at the large fae once more. "And everyone here seems to have an issue with my sister and they all refuse to say her name or let me say it. You're all so _weird,_ I just want to be left alone!"

Choilleach merely shrugged. "Her name is taboo in these parts. Ancient history, I'm afraid. Again, for reasons I cannot depart to you."

He snorted. "Like you would tell me even if you could. I hate dreaming. All my brain gives me is riddles."

Pausing, the older fae tilted his head to the side, then reached out a foot and gently knocked one of his knees away from the other. As the limbs made contact, he hissed under his breath and drew it back to himself. "You... You're solid."

"You could have just asked me that instead of _kicking me_!" Toby cried, rubbing at the offended part and moving his seat back away from him by a few inches.

"My apologies; I had to be sure for myself without giving you any chance to prepare. Or whatever is bringing you here. Ignore it."

The boy rubbed at his face and sighed again, louder and slightly more obnoxiously this time. "Whatever. Why are you even here, Lachlan? Why bother speaking to me at all?"

"I thought you could find some comfort in a familiar face that isn't seeking to interrogate you, is all. If you like I can send back in Arlyn and Baran, who're loitering outside the door waiting for me to either leave or let them in. I requested some time to speak to you before they got stuck into things again. It isn't like there are many other people who you can speak to about this, is there?"

Finally, Toby crossed the room again and threw himself back into his chair with bad grace. "Who is Eanraig and why did he have me chained to this chair?" He asked suddenly, changing the subject. Choilleach blanched in response, taken aback, but cleared his throat and sat up further as he turned to straddle his seat once more and face him.

"Eanraig is the High King of this city. Your very first adventure into Jared's lands brought him _here_ to demand a meeting with the High Council and seek some sort of answer for treason and treachery of his person. Which led to Eanraig appointing us three plus another to the task of keeping track on you and your sister to find out what was going on. Which has led to this."

"That's a lot of people to only one person. Isn't that overkill?"

Choilleach grinned and lifted a shoulder, flashing his teeth. Toby's eyes focused on the points of his incisors and then looked pointedly away again. Baran had nearly had a fit the last time he'd asked if they were vampires. "Under normal circumstances, yes. But family ties make him a bit more protected."

"But Jareth's dad is dead. You told us that."

"His Uncle took the place of his dad when he passed. Jareth is his only nephew."

"Then shouldn't _Jareth_ be on _this_ throne and not out in that weird place with the maze? That makes him a prince, doesn't it?"

The fae sobered, and his expression set to stone as he stood from his seat. "I am not at liberty to discuss such matters. At any rate, I have vastly overstayed my welcome," He answered, moving around him and towards the door with long strides, "Good luck, Tobias Williams. Our paths will cross another dawn."

Toby slumped back in his seat glumly, eyes resting on the now vacant seat across from him. Instead of feeling better, now all he had were more questions. And he hadn't even gotten to ask the one that was bothering him the most right now. Or rather, the two.

Was Sarah in danger because of all of this?

And... Was Jareth the fae in the red book he was reading?

* * *

Outside of the room, Choilleach swept up the corridor past the armoured fae waiting by the door and towards the East wing. Behind him, he heard the heavy footfalls of Baran scuffing towards the door slower than the clicking steps of Arlyn, the former muttering something dark and scathing about the boy who was waiting for them, but he didn't turn to acknowledge them. He had his own questions that he sought to answer before his next patrol and before he was due to report to Eanraig with the day's findings.

He had portaled here on a whim as Toby's eyes had begun to lower, his eyelids closing... and barely after taking his seat in that room, the boy had materialised before him like some kind of spirit. And there were only two ways to do that, one of which had already been ruled out. The second was far more dangerous and took such strong power that it even gave _him_ pause. Something that would have Eanraig abduct the boy in full rather than wait for him to 'fall asleep', which would send the entire city into chaos. Yennifer still didn't know, and Eanraig still wasn't inclined to bring his wife into this. She was already pulling strings for Jareth's betrothal ceremony and his wedding to Aislinn and knowing what her husband was up to behind the scenes would bring it all to a screaming stop.

He couldn't tell anyone. That much was certain. Such ancient magic... Albion hadn't seen its like for millennia. The Great War of the Artair that had wrought their world with such bloodshed and strife that the elder Fae had been exiled... only to be made to devise a way to separate their kind from humanity. The creation of Terauramulis their redemption. The horrors of their past could not be brought to the present again. Gut instinct told him, however, that this was not a battle he could cease. If the veil between Albion and Earth were to thin or to tear, it would mean such catastrophe as the end of days. For them all... not just humankind, but the Fae as well. But what to do?

His thoughts were disjointed and panicked, his feet swallowing more and more ground with fervent speed as he headed for the Golden Plateau, to pray to the higher deities. To be heard now before the ending of times had to give them a sign of what to do. Choilleach might had been one of the strongest warrior fae within the Sacred City but he was also one of the most devout. He swore it was what gave him his edge. Why he was the most trusted from their ranks. His instincts had never drove him wrong... and right now they were telling him something was coming.

Fellow brothers in arms passed by with nods and courteous smiles and he returned all but none, yet sidestepped the choice to stop and exchange the pleasantries of his clansmen. His eyes were focused on trick door set into the mortar behind the room of the great court, and only paused long enough once there to ensure that none watched him enter. It wasn't illegal or frowned upon to pray inside, but to be seen entering was believed to bring bad luck to those who watched and the one who entered, and so he halted.

Then he slowly, deliberately, peeled off his gloves and placed a bare palm across the lock. For a few moments nothing happened, the gloomy hall silent around him and empty save for the dust, then a glow of gold began to radiate out from the lock through his fingers to form small vines that ensnared him, enveloping him... and a click gently echoed through the hall, the door gliding open to let him enter.

Inside was a glorious sight. The garden was filled with all manners of flowers and trees and Albion's twin suns beaming overhead were bathing it all in shades of liquid gold, casting shadows that formed celtic knots on the grass. The walls were blissfully clear of lichen and moss but were draped in white ivy. Choilleach took a moment to allow his startling eyes accustom to the bright light, then immediately but carefully removed his things; Discarding his coat and his boots to the step just inside the door and pulling his hair loose of its tie so only the metal half circlet of leaves was left holding it away from his face, leaving his ears on full display, he carefully folded them and set them aside. His weapon belt was slipped loose then and sat atop, though he stooped and drew the golden dagger free from its sheath, then turned back to the garden.

There was an opaque, white altar of quartz sitting proud in the center of the back wall of a kneeling goddess, her head bowed over cupped hands. Around her were the most celebrated items of nature, of the fae species, in various poses of frozen animation. With a deep breath, he stepped from the stone path and into the grass, reveling in how it cradled his bare feet. Almost instantaneously, his tension left him as the grass steadily pulled it from his form, and he was spurred onwards to his goal. The flowers opening further as he passed, the light glinting off the sharp edge of his gilded blade and onto their pale petals as his hands swung gently by his side. His eyes grew in size, his iris' breaking to leak the colour into the white until it was completely engulfed by cracked, icy blue, only his pupils left untouched, and Choilleach lifted his chin to let the sunlight bathe across his pronounced cheekbones.

At the altar, he kissed the pendant around his neck and held it to the sky for a moment before sinking to his knees, his feet linked across at the ankle behind him so his soles were facing the sun. The burgundy shirt he wore gently buffeted in the breeze, its fingers tugging at his hair as he looked down at his palm and then drew his blade across it down his lifeline. Drops of crimson quickly blossomed from the split skin and he rose up to hold his hand above the statue's hands, curling his fist to force a few drops to splash across the stone with a steadied breath. One. Two. Three.

Beside the statue lay a bowl of rowan leaves and mountain ash, and he took one to lay across his bleeding hand with a whispered word of gratitude, then took both of his hands into his lap to deliver his rite of worship... and then his rite of protection. For his people. For the little Tobias Williams. To ask for aid against what was coming towards them in the future and to take mercy on those who brought it. For thanks for all he had. And lastly... lastly for Jareth and his loved ones. For protection against himself and whatever lay in the road ahead.

The suns moved, splitting apart overhead to descend over either side of him as the time waned on... then finally after a long bout of silence, the leaf on his palm burned up against the dried blood on his skin leaving the flesh unblemished, then it disappeared in a wink of silver. Nodding, he bid her farewell and pulled himself to his feet in a fluid motion, turning away. The blood offering had disappeared from the altar which he had always taken to mean he had been heard. Though in all honesty none of them could ever know for sure when they came for their own prayers. It was a matter of faith.

Inside the palace once more, he redressed himself, then went looking for Xavior, the door shutting behind him with another faint glow until it disappeared into the wall. Jaque would be back at his post in the University as Miss Williams had apparently returned, ready to take up his self-adjusted role of student and friend. And watcher. Xavior had mentioned that other fae than their own kin had infiltrated the sacred ground of education for reasons yet to be seen and he wished to hear more about what and who exactly they were supposed to be watching out for. The youth would likely become distracted by Her within a week and his duties would inevitably slide by consequence. If Choilleach was to have his back in this mission then he needed details. Miss Williams was still a wild card that they could not predict, unlike her very telling family, and so he did not trust her even yet regardless of her aid. Something told him she didn't belong where she was. But he didn't know why... and neither did anyone else.

And what of the matter that some of Jareth's charges had yet again been with the Williams on this night? This time squatting under the boy's mattress rather than a couch, which spoke of a specific nature. For some reason, they had taken a special interest in Tobias and were willingly breaking their liege's orders to act on it. Something that he knew Jareth wouldn't hesitate to correct them for... and likely in a permanent way, as well.

Telling Xavior such information however would be dangerously close to the source, so he would have to bide his time until Tobias woke in his own world and Arlyn and Baran surfaced from their little room in the bowels of the keep. Truthfully he was a little surprised that they hadn't taken him further into the depths to the dungeons and shackled him in there for treason and suspected attacks against a monarch. He couldn't say. His part in this play was but little and he would do well not to step outside of its confines.

Turning the corner into the West Wing he was intercepted by a light, melodic voice calling out to him and he turned immediately in surprise. Instead of the High Queen Yennifer as he had been expecting, in front of him stood an all-too familiar head of ash blonde and prussian blue eyes swathed in a dress of midnight. "...Lady Lavanya," He greeted her stiffly, bowing with a foot tucked behind him. He looked at her familiar features from his lowered stance as she continued to smile warmly at him... then stood once more. "I did not expect to see you within these halls again. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

The fae smoothed her skirts with practiced hands and her smile grew to show a row of perfect teeth. "Choilleach. It is good to see you," she answered fondly, her head tilting to the side, "I was just passing by to speak with our... Queen. I'm glad I have caught you, however, as I have been meaning to speak to you about something. Will you walk with me to the city?"

Her smile stayed in place, but her eyes clearly spoke of there being little choice in the matter. Resignedly, he nodded, turning his booted feet away from the Guard's Keep and towards the mouth of Aurea. "Of course, my lady. It would be an honour."

He extended his arm and she smoothly stepped in to claim it, allowing him to steer them back up the corridor he had walked towards the large, ornately sculpted doors at the far end of the palace. They walked in silence for most of the journey, with Lavanya nodding and smiling demurely at her past subjects whenever they crossed someone's path, and a feeling of unease started to take hold within his gut. Jareth's mother making the trip from the highest tier of the city to talk to _Yennifer_ out of everyone within the Halls of Aurea was unheard of, since her throne had been abdicated and Eanraig had claimed it, and it spoke ill of what was to follow. Things had to be grave indeed.

Finally he broached the subject as they left the servants quarters behind and the following, brightly lit halls lay empty ahead of them. "Perchance I may be so bold as to inquire after what you needed me for, Lady Lavanya?" His steely gaze roamed the carved walls with their suits of armour standing proud, and tapestries of families and houses long passed spanning upwards towards the high ceilings to bide his time, to stop his gaze roaming over his original master's Queen- _his_ responsibility for millennia before He passed- as she took in the all too intimately known decorations as well. His question hung in the air for a few seconds, then finally he turned to look at her and saw the way her jaw had tightened.

"Yennifer tells me that Jareth finally plans to marry. That he has betrothed himself to one from the Isle of Nocte. I had to hear it from darling _Jaque_ just two morn's ago as none had sought to send me word of my own son's marital affairs," she stated bluntly, the warmth in her tone dissipating in the air before them, her eyes taking on a hard edge as she finally looked up at him, "It was assumed that as I _am_ still his mother, regardless of the fact that I no longer sit in a crowned chair overlooking the entirety of Terauramulis, that I would be included in such affairs rather than alerted afterwards? I disagree with Yennifer's choice of Princess Aislinn, I do not trust her. Nor any fae who dwell within the dark mists of that forsaken Isle. As for her second choice..." she scoffed derisively, a sound that shocked him to hear come from one such as her, "From what I can gather, she has run foul of her own deeds or has tried to break from an arrangement with Jareth. I do not blame her, and I have lent my own resources to give aid to finding her to make sure she remains in fair health if only to make sure that it was by choice. What I do not like about this... _princess Aislinn_... is that we have not heard of her before her name was brought to Yennifer. At such an age as she, that gives way to suspicion, does it not? Why haven't any of her ancestors faces been seen within the walls of our city for hundreds of millennia? That is why I sought you."

Choilleach's brow furrowed and he looked down at the polished crystal floor they walked as he thought it over, his clean shaven face looking back at him. "You want me to find out more about her. To find more of her house and her ancestry."

"I _want_ you to make sure that my son hasn't made a mistake from which he can not be saved. This... this running into things without doing his own checking first, without multiple meetings with Aislinn and declaring their betrothal to Eanraig without telling me? I know that our... our bond has faded considerably since his appointment to the Southern Borderlands... but I still love him so. He is of my spirit, my blood. No matter our troubles, he told me the last time there were matters of the heart. Jareth isn't acting like himself and that brings me great distress, my Lachlan," her eyes clouded in worry as she slowed them to a halt at the entrance to the palace, tearing them from his face to overlook their city. Her chest heaving once in an emotional exhale. "You protected my family once with your life when this was ours, and we treated you like another son. While our paths have parted and our allegiances, I would hope that you have not turned your back on us so swift."

The younger fae bowed his head, taking her hand to lead her carefully down the steps, past Xavior's troupes glad in their armour. Once alone again, he waited until they stood at the archway to the Upper District, then he turned to face her and took both of her hands to kiss their backs. His eyes never wavered from her own as they clouded further, and the lines of worry started to etch themselves into her expression as if carved by knives.

"Protect my son, Choilleach. On the oath you once swore my husband and I, on the life's blood that joined us and himself. _Swear_ that you will protect him with all that it takes, with every breath that may enter your body, lest he fall afoul of evil."

Choilleach dropped her hands, crossing a hand over his heart with a solemn look.

The suns dropped lower to the horizon, lighting them up in dark silhouettes with golden auras before the sacred city.

"I swear it, Lavanya. May the deities judge me and allow me to take his place in times of hardship and death," he swore quietly, drawing his blade once more and tugging off a glove to expose his lifeline once more. The cut he made this time was deeper and with more emotion, the blood spilling free and fast as he clutched it before them. Lavanya let out a shaking breath and wrapped a lily-white hand across it.

"Bheir spiorad agus anam buaidh air bàs," he breathed. She nodded, allowing a tear to spill on the curl of his fingers.

"What is fated is unavoidable. Fly strong." 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Time's gotten away from me. As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I look forward to reading what you think in the reviews!

* * *

The quiet, distant echo of a laugh filtered through the deserted corridor, lit in sporadic intervals where the students had left their study rooms open to allow the sunlight in. At the far end stood the stone sentinel at his post, the faint lumination lighting his features from the side, giving his features more life than a skilled craftsman could ever carve into granite. His eyes seemed to flicker, if not blink, then his mouth almost appeared to curl at the side. In a sudden motion of movement, the statue lifted a gauntlet to cough into it, then casually hefted his sword belt further up his waist and sauntered off to the side to lean against the nearby, adjacent wall. The wall behind his post pulled back from the surrounding mortar with a rough, grating sound of grinding stone, and then descended into the floor to admit the appearance of a certain blond young man who popped out as if he did this every other day.

"Afternoon, Heilyn. Good to see you're doing well," Jaque crowed quietly, grinning up at the figure as he finally stood up from all fours and brushed himself down. The sentinel turned and bowed his head, his own grin in place, jauntily leaning his hip on the wall and saluting him before dropping his armour clad arm. The blonde sighed happily, gloved hands moving to his hips as he looked down the hall at large. The red carpet looked almost wet in this dusky lighting, the tapestries on the wall seemed so new. How he loved this place and its quirks. "I know I've been away for a spell, old boy, but have you anything to report? Seen any nice statues recently?"

Heilyn rolled his eyes, shaking his granite head in resignation, then motioned with his head further down the corridor.

"Williams...? I was so sure she had class right now."

The other figure raised his brows and nodded slowly, then jerked his head again as he settled him with an intent gaze. Or at least, as intent a gaze as stone could muster. A muscle seemed to jump under the carved slopes of his eyes. Jaque frowned, moving to mirror the stone fae's stance across from him on the opposite wall, his gaze moving down the corridor again as his lips twisted in thought.

"... O-kay... not Williams," he mused, glancing at his counterpart just to make sure, "Then... are we talking about her darling friend, the ebony beauty, who never seems to let her out of her sight besides classes?"

A nod, a flexing of fingers against folded arms. The grin was all but gone.

"I see. And what, dare I ask, has she been up to?"

Heilyn responded with a series of hand gestures, hands moving quickly, in a military fashion that was still taught to every fae of high standing from Terauramulis. Every noble fae was enrolled into the militia in what would pass for their late teens - the males, typically, though there were the odd exceptions - as the Hierarchy believed in character building, and for every leader of a kingdom to be able to govern his people and guard should the need arise. It taught patience, stealth, grace, magic wielding, and weaponry. As well as how to make tough decisions. Jaque watched raptly with narrowed eyes, brows climbing up into his hairline. His lips thinned, pressing together as he bit down on them, pondering. The elder fae stopped, touching the hilt of his sword by habit, then leaned back again and recrossed his arms, stony expression back in place.

"Let's just make sure I have you right, since I haven't seen our Guard in some time. You're telling me that she... what, _left_? And came back carrying the scent of "deceit" and "darker days"? What are you insinuating?"

The other fae shook his head in a blatant refusal to say any more.

"Albion take me, I wish your choice of passing had allowed you to keep your vocal chords. It certainly let you keep your personality and _attitude._ "

An arched brow, followed by a smirk that didn't last long before sliding from his features. Jaque hissed at him in annoyance, then briefly pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before addressing him again, hand moving to gesture to the empty air between them.

"Let me try this again- are you saying you cannot say, or are you saying you don't _want_ to?"

A gloved hand left its resting place to point in a backward motion.

"What do you mean _both_? Damn it, Heilyn, you're a tough stone to crack."

Another gesture. Universal in nearly every language.

"Is it because you aren't entirely sure, then, or are you just being difficult?"

Stone grated against itself and Jaque groaned.

" _Fine_! All seeing deity, what doth thine granite eyes see?"

The fast gestures began again, Heilyn stepping away from the wall, and finished with a cagey glance down the corridor as a door closed, but no one had come out. Turning his head again, it was to see Jaque looking as if he'd just eaten something disgusting.

"I see. Well I..." he paused, brows knit, "I guess... keep on it. Pay _extra_ attention to Aliannah, I'll be back in a moon's cycle to hear what you've found." Jaque sighed, moving to walk away. Heilyn nodded at him and hoisted his scabbard again as he stalked back towards his post. Just before he resumed his post, however, Jaque quickly turned on his heel and called back to him. "Say, while I have you here: Have any other fae been through er... well, _you_ , recently?"

Heilyn shook his head, but his eyes widened a little as if he hadn't asked the right question. Then he lifted his chin, wrapped his hand back around his scabbard, then any trace of warmth or life bled from him to leave the stone as devoid of life as before.

Jaque swore under his breath, glaring at the sentinel, "Sometimes I _swear_ you deliberately keep things from me."

Resuming his walk down the corridor, he pulled a pocketwatch of sorts from his pocket and gave it a cursory once over as he held it into the light to inspect. Each open doorway threw him back into relief before the shadows in their spaces reclaimed him, each time the face of the clock changing a little further. Finally, he stowed it away and began to tug off one of his gloves, moving with steady intent towards the solid door mere footsteps away from Sarah's room. Eanraig had made sure to drill into them that there was no room for guessing, for mistakes. Had managed to instill that same solemnity in his doorkeepers here, like Heilyn. Jaque couldn't chance letting slip even the inkling of what he was thinking now, not until he had something concrete.

His boots came to a graceful halt outside the door, coming together neatly and firmly, in silence. Taking a steadying breath, the blond raised his now bare hand... and slowly pressed it against the wood, closing his eyes. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. The cold bite of the panel met the flesh of his palm, blank and lifeless. But he forced his fingers harder against the wood until the tips started to bend, tensing his jaw and clenching his eyes. For another moment, he stood there, silhouetted at the end of the corridor with hunched shoulders and a look of such deep concentration it appeared as if he too was carved from granite. Around him the air seemed to still, as if the school itself was holding its breath in anticipation of what was to come. If anything.

Then finally the door spoke to him.

It wasn't noticeable to start with. There were no golden streams that came with the locked door Choilleach had opened. But slowly, almost imperceptibly, he felt his hand start to cool further. The bite of the door turned into knives, and he opened his eyes gradually in time to see what appeared to be droplets of condensation begin to form around the outline of his fingers, bleeding through the wood. The smell of marshland hit him in the form of decaying plant life, and the pressing weight of mist began to push forth from the doorway. Enveloping him. Caressing and pulling at him with tendrils of pale moisture, sliding into his hair...

That much didn't concern him. Not every fae hailed from the Capital city, nor had ever _been_ there. This type of residual dwelling presence was attributed to a few regions: The Wastelands were probably the biggest culprits of heavy weather like this, though he'd never known one of such dark appearance to have been born there. Indeed, there was a telltale, underlying smell of arid sandstone... though that could simply be coming from a possession within the room itself.

Jaque discounted all of this in favour of something far deeper. Despite the heady proximity of Aliannah's typical homeland, there was something darting in and out of his peripheral consciousness, toying with him. _Goading_ him into trying to separate it from the myriad of tethers attached to the door he was melding his magic with. Daring him to let go of his trained psyche that was holding his magical signature back in case the other fae sensed his meddling, and reported him to someone important. His frowning intensified as he chased it, his hand twisting against the wooden panel until the entirety of his fingers began to turn white. _'Come on... just a little bit closer...'_

Time was starting to trickle by, matched by the sweat beginning to collect and run its path down his spine from his exertion. This wasn't his job. That continuously went through his mind even as he pressed himself further into the door to seek whatever it was that was taunting him and his efforts. This was Choilleach's job. The big bloke had specifically qualified for this kind of investigation into potential threats against them and Eanraig's affairs. It was one of the reasons he'd been assigned to oversee William's schooling here. Jaque was here for the more... personal perspective, to see whether she showed any inkling of telling anyone about Jareth or her "nightmares". Which, naturally, she hadn't. And now he'd roped himself into being the unanticipated friend that apparently was studying art and sculpting, and had now taken it upon himself to go another step outwith his boundaries to do his good ol' buddies tasks as well.

He coughed. Then he coughed again, a little harsher, his body withdrawing slightly from the door in response as his gloved hand rose to his mouth. This time, the presence followed _him,_ snaring around his throat like a gradually tightening whip. The sweet smell of decaying marshland faded, replaced with the smell of iron and something... something he wasn't entirely sure of. The inside of his nostrils began to itch and burn, the back of his mouth drying and beginning to stick to itself. Panic began to rise as he struggled to pull his hand away completely, his other hand pulling on his arm furiously. This magic... there was no denying it. But why? What would bring it out here, so far from their kind?

Finally, he managed to wrench himself away with a faint cry, twisting and curling away from the door as he fought to suck in lungfuls of air . Behind him, the water and all else of what he'd seen had disappeared completely, the door having reverted to looking like the other dozen in the hallway besides it. Trembles wracked his body as he managed a staggering footstep forward towards the other wall, eyes downcast at his bare hand. His body felt like led, exhaustion leaving him heavy and lethargic, yet he struggled still to raise his hand and look at it.

Expecting to see a burn of some manner from where the flesh of his hand had welded against the door, another cry left his throat at what he found instead. The skin was marred and grey, almost mummified, in a swirl pattern spiralling out from the center of his palm. Yet as he watched, the skin didn't reknit itself or recover. Nothing changed or moved. Tentatively, he lifted his fingers from his other hand to pass over the raised flesh, and swore as it elicited a sharp shiver down his spine from its sheer cold. There was nothing else for it, it would have to wait until he got back to the Hall of Aurea; This was going to take one of their best physicians to test and understand. He couldn't take this to Choilleach or the others... he had been reckless... he had been-

"...Jaque? What are you doing up here? Don't you have class?"

His head snapped up in time to see Sarah coming to a stop a few steps from him, letting the doors from the stairwell swing shut slowly behind her. Her eyes were wide, questioning, and he hastily tugged on his glove as he caught her gaze beginning to travel towards his hand, plastering a bright smile on his face.

"Sarah! Aha... how are you? It's been a while, hasn't it- Say, weren't you supposed to be helping me with my er... project?" he deflected, straightening finally and nonchalantly tucking his hands behind his back. The door was now resolutely at his back and he did his best not to show even a remote sign of what had been going on.

Sarah didn't appear to buy into his charade.

"What are you doing up here, Jaque? Were you seeing Aliannah?" she countered, peering past him at the door with a frown, "I didn't know the pair of you knew each other."

"We are... acquainted. Ish."

Her brows quirked, her red lips disappearing as she pressed them together for a moment. Then she sighed, gesturing towards his hands. "Did you guys get into a fight or something? You looked like you were in pain when I first came up here..."

He sighed, huffing a self deprecating laugh. "I was. I haven't seen Aliannah today, actually, but I did enjoy a nice run up here from the ground floor trying to avoid a cousin. What you just witnessed was a grade A stitch," he shrugged, "I'm not as fit as I look, apparently.

"Apparently," she echoed. Her gaze stayed on him another moment, remembering the morning she'd left where Aliannah hadn't seemed to recognise his name when she'd mentioned him, then she shook her head and shrugged too, "I haven't seen her either. She might still be on her break. I could ask Elijah later, after his Economics class, if you want?"

He flashed his teeth and sharply shook his head once, waving his good hand dismissively in the air. "Don't trouble yourself, it's not important. I just like familiarising myself with the... bigger names, on campus. I'm sure I'll catch her at another time."

Sarah's breath caught for a second at the actions coming from the blond, once more reminded of an older version of him. The image of her broken mirror swam back to the forefront of her mind, then images of her "friends" that she associated with it. Her subconscious had just managed to dredge up a picture of Jareth, the last time she'd seen him, before she forced her eyes away from Jaque towards the wall and tightened her jaw. She had shed her final tears over that little daydream. Whatever similarities there were here, they were recognised on her part alone. Still, she couldn't push away the familiarity.

"Well... I guess I'll catch up with you later then, Jaque? About your project?"

Jaque saw the change in her unfold before his eyes: Recognition, Denial, Acceptance, Refutal. The fact that her eyes had begun to gleam a little in the dim light, changing from their typical leaf green to a deeper shade of emerald, as he caught the memories she was promoting out of her psyche. Jareth must have done an absolute number on her, if she still shied away from even his name a whole human decade later after the fact. It had been a millenia for him... though, the youth supposed, Jareth was only a hair's difference from what he had been after that night's events too.

Love. How cruel a mistress doth she be.

"I'm heading back down that way anyway, mind if I tag along?" This was the most he had gleaned from her since the first time he had accidentally made contact- he couldn't afford to let this slide now. The more he could send back to Arlyn and Baran tonight, the better he could hide what he'd actually been up to before she showed up. Past that, he just had to avoid Choilleach until he met with one of Aurea's healers and had his hand seen to, since that Fae could smell deceit like a rotting corpse set before his face. He'd be out of this "Mission" before he had the chance to say an expletive befitting one of mortal caliber because he'd go straight to Eanraig and claim that he'd been "compromised". Jaque was already riding by the skin of his incisors as it was, after breaking Eanraig's number one rule. No contact. After this, he'd be lucky to still be allowed entry into Terauramulis for informal visits.

Sarah's eyes flicked back to Aliannah's door, then towards her own, her shoulders sagging a little. She had hoped to phone Toby before going to eat... though in her current mood, that probably wasn't a good idea. He should have been in school still at the moment regardless, or just leaving. She could phone later. Finally, she cast her gaze around the narrow, cramped corridor one last time. All the small yet impenetrable doors. The tapestries. The stone soldier leering at her from the opposite end where he stood in his eternal vigil.

"... me just drop my gear in my room first, then we can go."

* * *

His shirt, made of the richest cloth of Terauramulis in its deepest purple, looked wet as it rippled in the faint breeze where he stood on the stone plateau of Aurea, looking up at the Great Spire. His blond tresses lifted with it, the open front of the garment allowing the air to grace the toned expanse of his torso. Framed in an aura of gold coming from the twin suns overhead, causing him to squint his eyes as he looked up at the obelisk of crystal, his iris' becoming pools of molten colour, lips parted. For a moment, Jareth almost looked serene. At peace. With himself, with the city...

Almost. Except those who knew him would notice the muscle jumping in his jaw as he grit his teeth together behind those thin lips, would see the tension coiling behind the heavy weight of his stare. The rigidity in which he held himself, one hand wrapped around a crystal goblet of wine and the other pressed with the back against his spine. Like a soldier who had been told to mingle at a party, yet couldn't relax because he still had his orders to carry out. With no one else accompanying him, visibly, he looked out of place when those details surfaced.

For a spell there was little sound bar what filtered up from the tiered living spaces below, from the marketplaces and the street performers, the faint cry of different birds from certain travelling fae coming in from the cloud district. Then the faint clinking from the Royal Guard's armour sounded behind, gradually disturbing the quiet until Xavior came to a halt beside him and also folded his hands behind his back. They stood in silence, both staring out at the spire and the lower gardens, trained eyes ignoring the almost imperceptible moving air not far from the city's totem. Warded against everyone bar three. And no one but the three knew who they were.

"... Your betrothal, although sudden, appears to be going well thus far, my friend. At which point do the rest of us meet the Princess? She seems little more than a ghost in Aurea for now."

"Says the fae who has stood watching me for the past hour or so- since when is it customary for old friends to give a wide berth in times of solitude?"

Jareth's nostrils flared slightly, eyes narrowing further as he momentarily turned his head to look down on his new companion, barely glancing over the set mask of Xavior's features before dancing away again back to where they'd been.

"You seemed pensieve... I thought to allow you time with your thoughts before making my approach. Much has transpired since we talked last, and I'd hate to crowd you," the captain smiled, brushing the bridge of his nose with the back of his gauntlet and sniffing quietly, "You never were one to speak your mind in times as trying as these, even when we were younglings. That much I have learned and retained."

"I appreciate your concern, Xavior," the blond muttered, pressing his lips together tightly. The hand at the back clenched its fingers then unfurled, the fingers tapping against his spine for a spell. The tension was far from abating and it could visibly be seen in the Captain's stance as well. "Lady Aislinn... travels regularly. The Isle of Nocte depends on her presence in order to keep her council in check, so a formal betrothal ball has yet to be arranged or planned. No doubt Queen Yennifer will see to it before the next moon's swell."

Xavior's brows rose towards his hairline, his breath hissing sharply between his teeth. "So the rumours of the court ring true, then. You actually plan to merge your bloodline with the Isle that would have seen Terauramulis razed to its stone foundations, seen the Halls of Aurea dissected and sold for parts. Have killed the Royal family in a heart's beat if their armies had made it past the chasms." His tone was calloused, cold, his face twisted between intense disgust and disapproval, " _Your family_ , Jareth. Technically."

Jareth barked a mirthless laugh, finally turning to his friend and folding his arms with head tilted almost mockingly as he considered him for a moment. "Terauramulis, during the time of Vercingetorix's rule, was unshakeable and instilled both fear and envy in the hearts of those who had no business to walk its plateau. It has fallen from its former grandeur, under my late father, under Eanraig. The obelisk has been threatened in times since, and our armies are lax and soft from years of peace and tranquility," he looked down at his hands for a second, thoughtful, and when his head lifted again his expression had changed. "It is time to let go of what was and has been. Our kind cannot survive with constant fissures that are never allowed to close. For this reason, I have to trust that Lady Aislinn is as sincere as she appears. She hardly looks the part of a wartime general, now does she?"

"I wouldn't know, for my eyes have yet to spy her. Our Queen trusts in her, and I trust in our monarchy. For this reason alone I have not pried."

"You would do well to keep it that way, Xavior. Isle or not, she is a lady of noble lineage and you will treat her accordingly."

They fell silent for a few moments, Xavior looking down at the cloud district with a whimsical sigh, Jareth looking in the opposite direction towards the open expanse of cloud that rolled onto the precipice of Tarauramulis foundations like waves, in the direction of what he now knew as home.

"If the other rumours are to hold as much truth as this, then your fair lady is a far cry from... well, your usu-"

"Change is necessary for progression," Jareth cut in sharply, lip curling a little at the implication behind the words directed at him. Different from the mortal. He knew they were all thinking it. She was... nothing, to him now. No more than a ghost from his past.

Quiet found them again, the Captain now inspecting the grooves of the leaf chainmail of his gauntlets, while Jareth turned his attention behind them to the voils wafting through the open archway. Ivory, glittering in the heady sunlight. A far contrast to the deep purple adorning his person.

He turned away.

"While I have you here, actually, I have a question for you."

Xavior looked up, squinting at him suspiciously, "Oh? This'll be good..."

Jareth sighed exasperatedly, dragging a hand down his face to grip his jaw. "Yes. Baran and Arlyn have been in the Capital more often in the last Cycle than the past three, always together, looking as comfortable as my subjects look when addressing me in my throne room," his mismatched gaze found his friend's and pinned him in place, "What is going on behind Aurea's closed doors?"

For a moment all that the other Fae could do was look at him in complete bafflement. He opened his mouth a couple of times before shutting it again raptly, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Err... Holiday? Visiting family? Hanging out with Eanraig?" he tried, questioningly, "I... I honestly do not know. No one has alerted me to anything concerning either of them and I cannot say that I have seen them around as often as you claim."

"Everytime I am called here they are already here and have been for some time, as haggard and exhausted as our younglings during tactical training for the guard. So tell me... Are they _training_ for _something_?"

The other fae scratched the back of his head slowly, looking increasingly confused, "Not that I know of, Jareth. My corp doesn't have room for any new trainees, and certainly not for nearly middle aged Fae. I'm sure that if they _required_ training that they would have alerted me by now, or Choilleach. Have you asked him? The pair of you go way back..."

Jareth shook his head, once. "No. He is bound to my Aunt and Uncle with a vow of secrecy upon The Goddess, and could not tell me even if he wanted to, if he is involved or knows anything."

He hummed for a second.

"... They're always exiting the lower chambers into the Second Keep, where the prisoners of War were kept. Yet if there were a prisoner in Terauramulis, the districts and Aurea would be on high alert..." he mused aloud.

Xavior nodded. "A breach in security of that magnitude would have to be brought to me so I could condition our troops, put them on high alert for their border patrols."

"Only you have the clearance to be down there. My right of free passage has long since been rescinded."

His friend balked, staring up at him incredulously. Jareth stayed stoic, watching him intently, waiting on an answer. Xavior seemed to retract at the look, backing up a step, then nonchalantly tried to lean against the nearby wall as he tried to reason with both himself and his friend.

"You realise what the potential repercussions could be, yes? I could be stripped of my rank for interfering in matters above my station. I could be removed from Aurea. I could... I could be banished."

Jareth scoffed, "My my, how terrible that must be to withstand," he drawled sarcastically.

Xavior blushed, dropping his gaze. "My apologies, Jareth. But my point withstands- If I were to be caught or found to be obstructing the court, the consequences would be most... severe."

"Then, dear friend, do not allow yourself to be caught."

"Why does it concern you so? Your allegiance to the protection of Terauramulis is void, since you were sent to the Southern Borderlands. While your family presides here and your mother remains in the Cloud district, your concern of safety is to your own kingdom. Why take up a mantle that is no longer yours to bear?"

"This... this was mine, once. My responsibility, my people. I turned my back on them as a frivolous, reckless youth, I endangered their lives. For that reason, I withstood my banishment. For that reason, I accepted their forgiveness and welcome back into the capital. And for that reason, I cannot turn my back on them again."

Xavior snorted. "Poetic. Yet I have never heard you speak your intentions so freely, with such sentimentality. That was almost selfless."

Jareth glared at him. "Time has taught me many lessons, the most poignant and the most prevalent. I accept my wrongdoings as much as my successes- I have to, if I am to marry. Yennifer bore no heirs, and by blood, the throne is mine once my Uncle abdicates the throne or Passes Through."

His friend leveled a look at him, "... And...?"

He sighed, "And because I'm insatiably curious and this will grate on my last nerve if I don't figure out what those two meddlers are doing. Baran can hardly stand to be around this many fae for a celebration within his own Kingdom, let alone outside his icy walls. The fact that he is doing it with Arlyn who is the most devoted fae to his wife that I have ever witnessed raises more than a few questions. And said wife is apparently absent. I seek answers."

"You seek trouble, my friend, for only trouble can come of this."

"Ever the pessimist, Xavior. The mortals would be hard pushed to best you in a game of misery."

"You do not get handed the responsibility and honour as Captain of the Royal Guard by staying constantly jovial and reckless. I would have thought such times were long behind you."

"They are. Behind me are millennia of solitude, silence, and regrets. Before me lies a path I must walk for the good of my people, fraught with hard decisions and existence with a stranger to warm my bed. My... apologies, for attempting to humour myself while I still have the will."

Xavior hung his head, biting down hard on his lip before whipping round to his friend. "Then don't marry her! You're still young, Jareth, and there is still life in your Uncle yet. Loving a mortal was better to you than this- I can see it in the way you stand here with me, that this weighs heavier on you than your sentences from the court. Why not sink your energy into rebuilding yourself before you go trying to build a dynasty?"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T!"

Jareth's iris' swelled, the contrasting colours growing ever deeper and taking on a fierce gleam and his features growing more angular. His chest heaved, his angered cry swallowed up by the opposing obelisk's wards, loud enough that the reverberations still caused the nearby birds to startle and take flight. Xavior was now standing straight backed, ever vigilant, yet his hand was raised palm-first at his friend.

Jareth ignored him.

"She robbed me of everything! My kingdom suffers for she tainted it and left, taking its life with her! My mind was all but destroyed by my heart's desire, by the destiny I held in my hands which I allowed her to take away! My subjects _starved_ , their houses _collapsed_ , because my magic could no longer reach them from the room in which I ensconced myself! _I have to move on or die trying!"_

Xavior released his held breath slowly through his nose, looking sadly across the balcony at him. Taking in the ire on his face, the aggressive stance he had undertaken, the way his hand had flung out towards the Chasm as if She was still there, waiting in the Labyrinth for him to return.

"Moving on does not mean siring an heir by a stranger you neither know nor care for, to secure your lineage. It means letting the past go and forging your own future, like I had to after my parents died in The Wastes. Do not let your demons pick your path," he said quietly.

Jareth snarled at him, "You do not know me as well as you think you do. Do _not_ presume to understand me or my actions. My land _needs_ a ruler, it _needs_ new life. An alliance borne of marriage between the Southern Borderlands and The Isle of Nocte would be prestigious, and beneficial to Terauramulis as well, with our exports."

"... I see your Aunt and Uncle have been busy with you."

" _Silence._ I refuse to hear another word about this. My betrothal to Lady Aislinn is not up for discussion."

Jareth turned, swiping viciously at the waving voils of the archway before pausing. "You owe me, for Loiletta," he called melodically over his shoulder, expression turning cruel, "So I am calling in that debt now. You _will_ find out what is transpiring in Aurea's foundations, and you _will_ tell me in reports of everything you learn. I bind you on our life's blood to this contract, that you will tell no one."

"... Very well, my liege. It will be so."

Jareth swept away down the corridor without a backward glance, and Xavior soon followed his cue in the opposite direction with a heavy gait. Their footsteps echoed on the crystal floors before fading into silence, and the peace of the hall was restored once more.

Aliannah stepped out from her hidden alcove gracefully, smoothing her skirts and tucking a stray coil of hair behind her ear as her dark, soulful eyes watched the space which the blond King had since left. Blood welled on her lip from where she had bitten it in fright when the shout had sounded, and she slid a square of cloth from her dress to blot it quickly, then began to retrace her steps back towards Princess Ailinn's assigned guest quarters at a quick pace.

Behind her, the nearly imperceptible sound of a bubble bursting sounding in multiple places, leaving tiny showers of iridescent glitter to fall to the emerald carpet.


End file.
